Utah's three Catholic high schools win region titles during 2016 winter sports season

Friday, Mar. 11, 2016

SALT LAKE CITY — Teams from the three Utah Catholic high schools won region titles during the winter season, some for the second year in a row. 

The combined Juan Diego and Judge Memorial Catholic high school hockey club, the Catholic Independent Griffins, played this season at the Division 1 level despite a roster that was two-thirds underclassmen.

The varsity team finished the season in 7th place out of 12 teams. The highlights include a tie to the eventual 3rd place team, and playing the top-ranked team through two periods before losing by two. 

The Griffins varsity entered the 7-team Division 1 Independent playoff bracket as the 4th seed, and lost in the semifinals, finishing with a 3-2 playoff record.  

The highlights of the playoff season were a first round victory over Uintah in Vernal, and a “never-say-die effort in the final game, spotting Utah County Independent-North to a 4-0 lead before clawing back to 4-3, just missing opportunities for the tying goal before yielding an empty net goal in the waning seconds,” said Anthony Musci, hockey head coach.

The Griffins were formed last year with students from both Catholic high schools.

“The team chemistry was excellent this year, led by team captains Halston van der Sluys (JDCHS), David Musci (JMCHS), and Evan Pappas (JDCHS). For the first time this year, the team named a JV captain, inspired by the strong presence of JDCHS senior Corey Boyle, who will fulfill a commitment to the U.S. Marines after his graduation,” Musci said.  

All-star nominees for the Griffins were Christian Phinney (JDCHS), Luke Chamberlain (JMCHS), Chris Panek (JDCHS), and Colin Bonk (JMCHS).

The JMCHS girls team 4A basketball team fell short of being the #1 seed in Region 6 with an overtime loss to Olympus High School. 

Entering the UHSAA state championship as the #2 team, Judge defeated its first-round opponent Box Elder HS.

“Down early in quarterfinals against #1 seed Springville HS, the Bulldogs raced to a 2-point lead at the half,” said Paul Shiramizu, head basketball coach. “It was playoff basketball at its finest in the second half. Star center Vanessa Austin fouled out one minute into the fourth quarter and Judge was only down 2 with less than two minutes in the game. Free throws by Springville, however, extended their win by 10.”

The Lady Bulldogs had only two seniors this year, Grace Nakamura and Rachel Shubella, who provided leadership and experience “that will no doubt launch them to sustained success into their collegiate experience,” said Shiramizu. “All in all, it was a great initial season for me, a first-year coach.”

The JMCHS girls 4A swim team placed fourth in both the Region 6 and UHSAA state championship swim meets. The “tight-knit girls team saw great improvements in swim times over the course of the season, which culminated in strong performances at region and some incredible swims at the state meet,” said Sage Maaranen, head coach. 

Among the JMCHS girls team highlights, Amani Jammoul, Caroline Yannelli, Anna Shum and Victoria Stevens placed 4th in the 200 Medley Relay and Shum, Yannelli, Erin Morgan, and Stevens placed 3rd in the 400 Free Relay. in the 200 Individual Medley, Yannelli placed 5th and Morgan placed 6th. Yannelli placed 3rd in the 100 breast stroke, while Morgan placed 7th in the 100 back stroke. Stevens placed 7th in the 100 Free. In the 100 Fly, Jammoul placed 4th and Shum placed 5th.

The JDCHS boys 3A basketball team played a challenging pre-season schedule, facing several top 4A and 5A schools and played in the renown national Tarkanian Classic in Las Vegas, said Drew Trost, head coach. They beat California teams in the Tarkanian Classic and also won over East and Syracuse high schools.  

“We were the 3A Region 11 champions for the second year in a row, in one of the toughest regions in the state. We beat Juab in the first round of the state tournament, then beat Desert Hills at Southern Utah University in the quarter finals,” said Trost. “The Soaring Eagle team went on to beat Canyon View in the semi-finals, and suffered a heart-breaking loss to Dixie in the state championship by 8 points. Senior Maliik Fagan-Foster was terrific all year, averaging 16 points per game and 7 rebounds.  Senior Avery Ames was also very good, averaging 13 points per game and 4 rebounds.  They will both go on to play college basketball at some level.”

Although the loss in the state championship “was crushing, it was a good season and I am proud of our success,” said Trost. 

The Juan Diego girls basketball team followed their 2015 championship season with a 17-7 record and 5th place in the 3A UHSAA state tournament. They won the Region 11 title, led by seniors Ann Nelson and Mia Berengeur, who led the team to the school’s first back-to-back region titles in girls basketball, said Josh Archuletta, head coach. 

St. Joseph CHS 

The SJCHS boys 1A basketball team won back-to-back Region 18 championship titles, finishing with a 17-1 record, under the direction of Coach Rick Stoeckl. They had an overall 23-4 season record after placing 5th in the UHSAA state 1A tournament. 

“We had a great season, starting out with a tough region schedule,” said Stoeckl. “The boys came together about six weeks ago and started playing team basketball with strong team defense that carried over. It has been 20 years since the boys won in the first round of the state tournament; they advanced and played a tough quarter-final round against Diamond Ranch High School, who went on to win the state championship. In the consolation round, SJCHS won the next two games against Wayne and Piute high schools.” 

The SJCHS 1A girls basketball team finished the season with a 13-8 record, placing second in Region 18. They lost to first-place Tintic High School by 1 point and 3 points in the two games they played against each other this season. 

“The [Jayhawks] always showed a lot of resilience, which was special to see,” said Shane Reinhard, head coach. 

The girls basketball team lost in the first round of the UHSAA state tournament against Tabiona High School, then lost in the consolation round against Piute High School. 

Last year’s guard positions were held by seniors, so this year the team lacked experience in that area, said Reinhard. 

Junior Kathleen Tomon led 1A in scoring and rebounding, “which is a huge accomplishment,” Reinhard said. “That says a lot about her work ethic and her commitment to the program; we are lucky she will return next year, along with the top three high scorers.”