St. Pius Weekly Sports Recap

Three sports were in action last week as both varsity basketball squads swept region opponents while wrestling traveled to the area tournament. Swimming and diving was off last week. Girls’ basketball continues to sit in the No. 5 spot in the latest Georgia Athletic Coaches Association (GACA) AAA poll and No. 3 in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll.

The Golden Lion girls’ basketball team defeated Riverwood on Tuesday to clinch the top spot in Sub-Region A of Region 5-AAA and a first-round bye in the region tournament. Emma Ucinski scored 15 points in the 37-27 win. Sydni Payne added eight points, and Anna O’Donnell grabbed six rebounds to lead the team. Friday night, (20-3, 10-0 5-AAA) knocked off North Atlanta, 61-44. Asia Durr led three players in double-figures with 15 points. Dylan Krause and Ucinski added 13 and 11, respectively. Laura Redmond, Liz Schneider and Payne all recorded six rebounds. The Golden Lions have not lost a regular season game to an AAA school since Jan. 22, 2010, a span of 32 games. St. Pius wraps up the regular season on the road today at Grady and Friday at Druid Hills. The Golden Lions are looking for the first back-to-back undefeated region regular seasons in at least 20 years.

Boys’ basketball swept Riverwood and North Atlanta as well last week. The Golden Lions (10-12, 4-6) have reached double-figure wins this season-after winning just one game last season-starting one senior and four sophomores. St. Pius defeated the Raiders, 49-37, putting together a 10-0 run in the fourth quarter to erase a four-point deficit and cruised to the win. The Golden Lions ran away from North Atlanta, 66-31, to keep the Warriors winless in region play as Collin McKay had 20 points. The boys travel to Grady and Druid Hills this week.  Both tip-offs are scheduled for 7pm. The boys’ team will be seeded anywhere from fourth to sixth in the upcoming region tournament, but that will not likely be known until late Friday evening.

Wrestling finished third at the 5-AAA Area Tournament last weekend. Eight wrestlers qualified for the state sectional tournament this weekend at Riverwood. Cole Waldron finished in first place in his weight class. Robbie Martin, Quinn Peragine, Eamon Quinn and Dalton Wilson each finish second in their respective weight classes. Connor Laubenthal and Joe Twiner finished third and Harris Woodward finished fourth in each of their weight classes.

Boys’ and girls’ swimming and diving will travel to Georgia Tech on Friday and Saturday to participate in the Georgia State Championships.

St. Pius will host the first and second rounds of the Region 5-AAA basketball tournament beginning Monday, Feb. 13. First round boys’ action starts at 4:30pm on Monday with two games following the opening contest. The schedule is the same for the girls’ first round on Tuesday, Feb. 14. After an off day Wednesday, quarterfinal action starts at 4pm Thursday with a girls tilt. Boys quarterfinals start times are at 5:30pm and 8:30pm. The second girls’ quarterfinal will tip at 7pm. The St. Pius girls’ basketball team is scheduled to play an opponent to be determined in the 7pm contest.