Jaguars AAU Basketball

Jane Baron, mother of JP (JAGS 6th Grade Black) and Jaylen (JAGS 7th Grade Blue) lost her courageous battle with pancreatic cancer on Sunday morning, May 1st.  John Baron, coach of our 6th Grade Black and 7th Grade Blue teams, has been Jane's caretaker for over 13 months as she has battled this illness and the way John and the family cared for, tended to and paid tribute to a beautiful woman, Jane, was a blessing to see each day.  Jane we will miss you so much and your legacy will live in all of us forever!

John's 6th Grade Black team traveled to Spooky Nook for the 2nd Annual Warriors Court Championship hosted by Spooky Nook Sports this weekend.  There were 9 teams in 6th Grade A boys bracket and the JAGS got things started early on Saturday morning with a 50-39 win against House of Sports.  In the afternoon they bested the Central PA Elite team 49-30 which had resulted in the JAGS being ranked 3rd out of 9 in pool play.  Saturday evening they demolished the 6th seed Luzerne County Lightning 57-12 getting them into the semi-finals for Sunday AM.  John Baron coached the team in all three games that day knowing Jane's condition was worsening as the day went on.

He and JP did not return on Sunday and Assistant Coach Klauder got the team together prior to the 8:50 AM tip off and dedicated the rest of the day to Mrs. Baron.  For the rest of the day, every time out, every break from the huddle we all in unison chanted, "Mrs.  Baron".  The boys were laser focused and played the semifinal game with such effort and positive attitude and we beat a very good House of Sports team, 59-39.  Late in the game I learned that Jane had passed while we played and we gathered all the players and parents together and had a very emotional and tearful talk with everyone.

We had to wait around 3+ hours for the championship and we all worked to keep the boys positive while respecting the passing of Jane.  We faced the #1 seed Rochester Select Basketball Academy (RSBA) and it was a great basketball game.  Once again the "Mrs. Baron" chant was heard repeatedly by a jam packed crowd watching this game.  Back and forth for most of the game, with big bucket after big bucket by both teams, the JAGS pulled through in the end and won the championship 51-45.  The boys conducted themselves with such class and poise and they were constantly thinking of Mrs. Baron, Coach John, their teammate JP and his sister Jaylen.

Personally, I have been around a lot of things with sports over the years and today was one of the finest moments I have ever had in spite of the terrible news.  I give these young men so much credit and today we witnessed why sports are so powerful and uplifting.  I have cried a lot today but I smile at what they accomplished. More importantly, is how they accomplished it. 

We stand with the Baron family and our prayers and support are with them.  The viewing will most likely be Thursday night and the funeral mass Friday morning at St. Eleanor Church (Collegeville). 

9th Grade Blue became the second team in Jaguars History to win a Division I District Title, matching the accomplishment of the 11th Grade team from the class of 2013. The  team competed in the MADQT Division 1 bracket this weekend in Easton, PA and came home with the Championship and a perfect 5-0 record.  It was a quite a weekend for the 11 players, families and coaches and a great accomplishment for the team and our club.  In Game 1 against the Chesco Lightning on Saturday the team got off to a sluggish beginning but started the 2nd half on a 14-0 run.  The JAGS won this contest 48-28, the tag team on Megan Jonassen and Taylor Hamm were dominant in this game.  Jonassen had 20 points and 10 rebounds and Hamm had 12 points and 8 rebounds.  Brady Wassel added 7 points and Alex Blomstrom also had 7 points.  After a 5 ½ hour wait for Game 2 (and a trip to the driving range for the coaches) the JAGS got it going against a pesky Chester County Wizards team.  The JAGS scored their most points of the year in this 68-44 victory including going a crazy 31-37 from the foul line.  Jonassen had 17 points and 9 rebounds, Hamm had 12 points and 12 rebounds, Paige Brala had a great game with 10 points, Wassel had 8 points and 5 rebounds, Kylie Webb 7 points, McKenzie Kearney was 5-6 from the line and 5 points, Corryn Monaco had 5 points, including a big three pointer and Catherine Klauder had 4 points.  By going 2-0 in pool play the JAGS could sleep in Sunday morning and play in the quarterfinals on Sunday @ 12:30 PM.  In Game 3 On Sunday the JAGS did not disappoint and won handily versus the Philly Heat 58-30.  Jonassen again paced the team with 14 points and 9 rebounds, Blomstrom found the hot hand and buried 4 threes and had 12 points, Wassel continued her great play with 10 points, Ali Higgins had 5 points and 4 assists, Kearney was very solid and contributed 6 points.  Onto the semi-finals and Game 4 which saw them play a team they have seen a lot of this year, Pennridge MOJO.  It was a very spirit crowd on both sides and the MOJO jumped out very quickly on the JAGS and led 9-2 to start but the JAGS settled themselves and played awesome defense which led to great offense, the JAGS went on a 38-10 run and led 40-19 at halftime.  The final of the game was a 58-38 victory for the JAGS.  Jonassen was huge once again with 20 points and 11 rebounds, Blomstrom had 10 points, Wassel had 9 points, Sarah Cooper played a great game and scored 4 points and did all the little things she does so well.  Webb and Higgins both had 4 points.  This win set up the championship game against as very big and athletic In the Zone (Bath, PA) team.  In the Zone had run through their 4 games with no real issues at all.  The JAGS came to play from the opening tap and played like a team that really wanted the championship.  Incredible passing and shooting and very unselfish play.  Once again Jonassen was so strong with 13 points and 16 rebounds and Hamm had 5 points and 16 rebounds.  Those two are so formidable on the court together.  But the storyline of this game was the play of Blomstrom and Webb.  They both stole the show.  Blomstrom drained 6 threes and scored 19 points and Webb drained 3 threes and scored 18 points and really frustrated the competitors to the point of them going Box in One on Webb.  The JAGS won this one 64-51 and won the title.  For the weekend the team scored 296 points over 5 games!  Jonassen had 84 points and 55 rebounds, Hamm had 35 points and 50 rebounds, Blomstrom had 52 points (13 threes), Wassel had 39 points and Webb 32 points.  Coach Klauder and Higgins could not be prouder of the team but also so pleased with the support of the families throughout this LONG weekend.  The team is now 16-1 and will play in the Think Pink tournament on Saturday May 9th before taking off for a few weeks and getting some much needed rest.

In other action:

4th Grade Blue had a 1-1 Saturday, dropping a decision to 5th Grade Kyniska then following that up with a run away win. Details to follow.

7th Grade Blue suffered their second defeat of the season but still had a successful 3-1 weekend record. The first game saw the Jags overwhelm an outmatched but feisty and well coached Fencor team by a score of 45-19. Hannah Clay led the team with a season high 11 points, Avery Sweisfort continued to put the ball in the basket with 9 and Caroline Pellicano added 6. Gina Ianozzi had 5 rebounds to go along with 4 points. In the second game, the Jags faced a talented 8th Grade Chesco LIghtening team and dropped a 38-27 decision. Trailing by 17 early in the second half, the coaches challenged the team to push hard and not quit in the game and the girls responded, cutting the lead to 9 points with 5 minutes to do. Lucy Olsen led the team in scoring with 10 points and Sweisfort added another 8. In the third game the Jags faced an 8th Grade team from DBL and walked away with an easy 50-16 victory. Pellicano scored a season high 16 points to lead the team. Olsen had an amazing 12 steals in the game and overall the team had 33 steals as opposed to just 9 turnovers. Julie Rife had an equally amazing 7 blocked shots. The girls completed their weekend play with a 42-19 victory over the Breakers. After struggling against a tight 2-3 defense the team found its transition game in the second half to run away with the win. Skylar Sullivan led a balanced scoring attack with 9 points, Sweisfort dropped in 7 more and Sydney Hargrove had 6 to go along with 4 rebounds. (Picture below)

8th Grade Blue also had a 1-1 Saturday. Sunday results and additional details to follow.

8th Grade Black won silver in North Jersey at Ramapo College, going 3-1 on the weekend. The boys suffered a heartbreaking loss in the championship game to the Jersey Playerz by a score of 51-48. Details to follow.