Gaynor Gators Win AIPSL Championship

Posted on Friday, March 8th, 2019

The Gaynor Gators Boys’ team went toe-to-toe with The Cathedral School in the American International Private School League (AIPSL) championship game, emerging as winners with a score of 49-39.

The Gators knew they were in for a tough game, with Cathedral not losing a single league game all season and beating Gaynor twice in regular season play. At the beginning, it seemed that Cathedral had all the momentum and Gators were having a difficult time taking care of the ball. But like all successful teams, they stuck together and made adjustments, trusting in the system and their abilities.

The beauty of the game of basketball is in the teamwork, when all five players on the court can work as one unit. On defense, the players seemed to be connected at the hip and all move together, trusting each other to be in the right spot to make a play. Or on offense where they continued to look to pass rather than shoot as a first option, always looking up for an open teammate.

“As the intensity grew, we encouraged the team to relax and just think about the game of basketball, and what they could do on the next play. Our goal was never to simply win games but to learn to play together and to always play hard, knowing if we did that the winning would take care of itself. Yesterday was the perfect example of that and I hope the players keep that with them and are proud of what the were able to achieve,” said Coach James Melillo and John Greco.