By Kevin McCaskill Jr.
*John 4:44*
Last night, Pope Francis (Springfield, MA) took on West Springfield HS in West Springfield. The game went back and forth with both teams having sizable leads in the game. Pope Francis was too strong in the paint for West Side and they powered their way to a 56-47 victory.
Cam Vedovelli had 25 points for Pope Francis. Point Guard Daijon Davis had 16 points.
Senior Jacob Acevedo had 15 points for West Side.
The game started with West Side getting out to an early lead with some early 3s by Acevedo and Has Ashraf. West Side Senior Ryan Russell started off quickly by driving and getting to the foul line. Pope Francis went inside to Adam Sarlan to get into the game. Cam Vedovelli started his scoring barrage with 4 points in the 1st qt.
The 1st quarter ended 16-14. Pope Francis took the lead and maintained a pretty sizable lead until the 4th quarter. Sarlan had 11 points. AJ Holl hit one 3; Shalom Love hit one 3.
Other scorers for West Side:
Ryan Russell - 5 points
Has Ashraf - 8 points
Joe Ingegneri - 3 points
Tim French - 6 points
Joe Kosior - 8 points
After the game, West Side a Senior Night celebration for Acevedo and Russell. They each got a bouquet đ and gave it to their family.
Go to twitter.com/k2fpsports for video of the celebration.
After the ceremony, I spoke briefly with West Side HC Joel Aponte. He told me that his team needs to improve âa little bit of everythingâ moving on to the next game. He informed me he had a young team (only two Seniors on a roster of 12) but he said that they need to improve defensively for their next game.
I will be in West Springfield on 2/23/21 for their game against Agawam.
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(Cover Photo: FPMG/Kevin McCaskill Jr.)