St. Pius Winter Sports Preview

As the successful fall sports season begins to come to a close with the football state playoffs, winter sports at are into the fourth week of practices with games, meets and matches scheduled to begin within the next two weeks. All four sports look to use the early school year success of capturing all six championships in region competition as a springboard for their own seasons in 2011. St. Pius looks to capture the Regions Director’s Cup for the fourth straight year in AAA.

Boys’ basketball welcomes first-year head coach and St. Pius alumnus, Aaron Parr, to the bench this season. Parr, the leading scorer in school history, takes over a team that returns two seniors, starting point guard, Collin McKay and Chris Coheley.  Parr will look to juniors Jonathan Leiner and Andres Perez, in addition to sophomores Daniel Crochet, Nick Harris and Will Maguire to compete for starting spots.  Harris, a 6’7 forward, looks to have a breakout season in the paint, while Crochet will be looked to provide toughness on the defensive end.  Leiner, Maguire and Perez should provide scoring from the perimeter on a team with a good deal of young talent.   

The Golden Lions will open the 2011 slate at Westminster on Nov. 29, and will take on Region 5-AAA foe Washington in the first home game of the season on Dec. 6. The annual match-up with rival Blessed Trinity is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 10 at 2:30pm. The Golden Lions will participate in the Mountain Brook High School Holiday Classic in Birmingham, AL, Dec. 21-23 and will face host, Mountain Brook (No. 3/6A poll in Alabama). St. Pius will host the 12th annual St. Pius X Christmas Classic and open with Pinecrest on Dec. 27 at 8pm.

Girls’ basketball returns all five starters and nine seniors from last year’s Region 5-AAA championship squad that advanced to the state quarterfinals. Leading scorers Sydni Payne and Emma Ucinski will again be joined by leading rebounders Elizabeth Elliott and Anna O’Donnell and point guard Anne Lloyd Bean as well as a seasoned bench led by seniors Dylan Krause, Liz Schneider, Mary Kate Standard and Lily Williamson. Juniors Mackenzie Garrison and Laura Redmond along with freshman Asia Durr will be looked upon to provide scoring off the bench as well as the season progresses.

St. Pius, ranked No. 4 in the Georgia Athletic Coaches Association (GACA) AAA poll, will face Westminster on the road Nov. 29 before opening the home season in a girls-only contest with opponent North Gwinnett (No. 3/AAAAA) on Dec. 3 at 1pm. Region 5-AAA play will open Dec. 6 against Washington before the tilt with Blessed Trinity on Dec. 10 at 1pm. The Golden Lions will also host Pinecrest in the first game of the Christmas Classic at 6pm on Dec. 27.

The wrestling team, led by third-year coach David Sabino, looks to continue its rise to the top of Region 5-AAA. Returning this year for the Golden Lions are three state qualifiers in Robbie Martin, Quinn Peragine and Eamon Quinn with Martin finishing fourth in his weight classification. In addition, Sabino will be looking for contributions from Cole Waldron and Harris Woodward to lead a youthful squad that consists of 14 freshmen. Martin and Peragine are the captains of this year's team. The grapplers open up the 2011-12 season with a tournament at Stockbridge High School on Dec. 2-3.

Swimming and diving return several key performers from both the boys’ and girls’ teams. The boys’ team finished fourth at the AAA state championships, while the girls’ placed third. Veteran head coach Scott Carter looks for his teams to compete again for a top five spot in the state championships.

The boys’ are led by sophomores Gunnar Bentz and Basil Orr. Bentz holds school records in the 100-meter breast stroke, 100m fly and 200m individual relay events. He is an All-American in the 100m breast stroke and 100m fly. Orr, Bentz and senior D.J. Boutte are members of the 200m freestyle relay and 200m medley relay teams that own school records as well. In addition to the school marks, the 200m medley relay team holds an All-American time. Seniors Mitchell Gray and Alex Maxwell are other swimmers to watch this year for the Golden Lions after strong showings in the state championships.

The girls’ team is propelled by seniors Haley Durmer, Mary Elizabeth King and Chandler Ryberg. All three will swim in college at NCAA Division I programs.  Durmer, a multiple All-American, holds four individual and four team relay records. King and Ryberg are also All-Americans and own school records. They will be joined by juniors Devon Dabney and Olivia Neagle as well as sophomores Cecilia Probst and Maddy Nelson. Sara Gilbert and Margo Hays are two members of a talented incoming class of freshmen. The Golden Lions teams started the season Thursday, Nov. 17 against Blessed Trinity at Dynamo Swim Club.