By RICH FISHER
Contributing Editor
As it began another season of molding young men and women into stellar basketball players and quality human beings, the Mercer County CYO turned to Father Arian Wharff, parochial vicar of St. Anthony of Padua, Hightstown, to give the mass.
Rev. Arian Wharff of St. Anthony of Padua delivers his message to parents and players at the 73rd Annual Mercer County CYO Basketball and Cheerleading Opening Day Mass. Photo by Rich Fisher
Father Wharff’s message was simple. He asked all in attendance to think about their specific talent.
“In this case we are talking about competition,” he said. “But what is your talent as a mother, a father or a student? Because with that talent, we can do something special. If you are honest with your talent and your gift, you are on the right path to being a saint.
“The talent that God has given you is important,” he continued. “Use your talent to be good. My prayer for you this season is to use the talent God has provided. [CYO basketball] is a beautiful experience to build strong minds and bodies.”
The 73rd Annual Basketball and Cheerleading Opening Day Mass took place Nov. 8 at the Msgr. Toomey Annex in Yardville. After communion, CYO Athletic Director Quincy Walzer made presentations to last year’s award winners, while music was provided by vocalist Rosemary LaMachia and organist Joann Sciarrotta for the 34th consecutive year.
Nine players who got all As and Bs in the classroom were named to the CYO Scholar-Athlete Team. They included Nicholas DiClaudio and Olivia Scharibone (Our Lady of Sorrows-St. Anthony Parish, Hamilton); Addison Dziubak and Aiden Lucas Licarte (St. Raphael-Holy Angels Parish, Hamilton); Vanessa Harrison (Stuart Country Day School of the Sacred Heart, Princeton); Cormac Joseph Holston and Paige Marrone (St. Gregory the Great Parish, Hamilton Square), and Anderson Hughes and Aiden Tameze (St. Paul Parish, Princeton).
It was an Our Lady of Sorrows/St. Anthony’s clean sweep as (from left to right) Olivia Scharibone was the Mercer County CYO 2024-25 Female Athlete of the Year, Tom Carella was Volunteer Coach of the Year and Max Grimmm was Male Player of the Year. Photo by Rich Fisher
All three of the 2024-25 major award winners hailed from Our Lady of Sorrows. Scharibone was Female Athlete of the Year, Max Grimm was Male Athlete of the Year and Tom Carella was Volunteer Coach of the Year.
Ironically, the Scharibone and Carella families have owned landmark family businesses down the road from each for seven decades. JoJo’s Restaurant and Carella’s shoe store are separated by three Mercerville blocks and are within walking distance of OLS.
Scharibone was last year’s Small School leading scorer and regular-season Most Valuable Player, leading OLS to the Varsity playoff championship.
“This means a lot,” she said of her Athlete of the Year honor. “I was really thankful I was able to win it and win a championship with my team my last year. I started in second grade, played with the same team all the way through and eventually won a championship in eighth grade.”
A freshman at Notre Dame High School, Lawrenceville, where she will play basketball, Scharibone was also part of the CYO Scholar-Athlete Team.
“It’s hard being a student-athlete,” she said. “You have to make sure studying is a big priority.”
Olivia looked back fondly on her time with CYO, saying, “we would pray before every game and do a lot of team bonding.”
Grimm, also a freshman basketball player at Notre Dame, won the small school MVP award in leading OLS to first place during the regular season and a berth in the playoff championship game.
As for winning Athlete of the Year, he said, “I’m proud all my hard work and dedication that got me this result. It’s cool.”
He felt playing CYO made him better in several ways.
“It had a big impact on me,” he said. “I got to play with all my friends … It helped my faith. CYO was a great experience. It wasn’t crazy like a travel team. It was just fun.”
For the 34th consecutive year, Rosemary LaMachia’s beautiful singing was accompanied by organist Joann Sciarrotta at the Mercer County CYO Opening Day Mass. Photo by Rich Fisher
As the awards were handed out, Carella’s long-time coaching partner Nick Commisso asked to present the Coach of the Year plaque to his friend. When asked how it felt to win it, Carella quickly deflected the praise.
“I don’t call it winning an award,” the lifelong Hamiltonian said. “It’s an organizational thing. OLS has always been a great community. It takes the parents – the support of the child, getting the kids to practice, making sure they’re prepared. It takes the coaching staff – and it’s a staff, it’s not just me – that’s dedicated and works hard, that makes these kids dedicated to be the best they can be. And it takes the students themselves to have the tenacity on and off the court and be the best person they can be.”
Carella started by coaching his son and daughter and remained to coach other parents’ children.
“I loved it,” he said. “Watching them grow and go on to high school, watching a couple of them go on to college and one student (Steven Harris) go semi-pro (in Holland) was very rewarding. There’s no better feeling than to see these kids achieve.”
And with that, another group of youngsters went out to achieve as CYO’s opening day games took place. The results were as follows:
Boys Freshmen: St. Gregory’s Blue defeated St. Ann (Lawrence), 27-2, as Luca DiGregorio led St. Gregory’s with nine points.
Girls JV: St. Gregory’s Blue defeated St. Paul’s 19-9, as Jenalyn Joaquin led St. Gregory’s with five points.
Boys JV: St. Gregory’s White defeated St. Gregory’s Gray, 36-14, as Patrick Murphy led the White with 13 points. OLS defeated St. Paul’s 46-9 behind Alex Cucciaro’s 15.
Girls Varsity: St. Gregory’s Blue defeated St. Gregory’s White, 35-11, as Olivia Angiolino tallied 13; and Blue also defeated St. Paul’s White behind Sloane Woods’s 10 points.
Boys Varsity: Jospeh Duva scored 19 as St. Gregory’s Blue defeated St. Ann’s, 48-27.