Oratory JV Basketball Scrimmages Roselle Catholic

In their matchup with Roselle Catholic, Oratory JV was greatly impressive. There were various challenges to overcome before the Rams showdown against Roselle Catholic. Star freshman Ryan Fay was sick the practice before so he couldn’t start, sophomore star Henry Bolster could not make the game because he was at Confirmation, and just before the game started another swingman between varsity and JV, Julian Stauffer, said he was too sick to play. Coach Muoio had to soon come up with a fresh strategy and starting lineup.

On short notice, sophomores Jack Olohan and Aidan Fahy were told they were going to be starting. After a short warmup, and perhaps too short, the game started. The Rams started off slow, maybe because it was early in the morning, or because the starting lineup was changed that day so many times. Within four minutes, Roselle Catholic was leading ten to nothing. An annoyed Coach Muoio substituted in the bench. This decision turned out to be the right one. The backups did perform better. In the final four minutes of the first quarter, Roselle Catholic’s starting only managed a 13-10 victory over the Oratory reserves.

In the meeting between the first and second quarters, Coach Muoio decided to keep the bench players. Since it was a scrimmage, every quarter started 0-0. After the first four minutes, the game seemed to be even and the starters got a second chance. This time, they came to play. Sophomore Jack Olohan hit a couple of threes. Rob Santoro, a freshman, scored some challenging baskets. Ryan Fay, a freshman, also received a few well-deserved points. The Rams appeared to have the upper hand in the second quarter.

Roselle Catholic, though, had the upper hand in the third quarter. OP lacked points and were gassed. However, the transition defense was the weakest portion of the quarter. Roselle Catholic scored the majority of its points on fast breaks.

Even though they performed so poorly in the third quarter, things were different in the fourth. This quarter, OP came out on top. Jack Olohan proved that he was the shooter to the entire gym. The defense had the upper hand. There were fewer turnovers since everyone played purposefully.

For Oratory, these four quarters were up and down. They played with intention sometimes and were lethargic other times (maybe because they were missing two starters). The fluctuation between the quarters can present a challenge. OP had incredibly strong second and fourth quarters, but weak first and third quarters. Oratory, though, has a chance to win the county championship if they continue to play as they did in the second and fourth quarters.