Gators Boys Beat St. Teresa, 57-31, to Move on in Diocesan Playoffs

Eighth-grader Adam Ottaviano isn't just the biggest kid on the floor on most nights; he's the biggest by a lot.

And the fastest.

Adam, who looked like he could beat St. Teresa of Avila School by himself at times during a basketball game on Friday night, March 4, didn't do anything during that game to suggest that football is actually his best sport. If that is a fact, that's pretty scary.

Adam did outscore St. Teresa's by himself in the first half on Friday, 16-13, and his  led at halftime, 22-13, on its way to a dominating, 57-31 win over the Titans at neutral-site Central Catholic High School.

Adam and the St. Gabriel varsity boys basketball team, which finished 12-0 in section play this season on its way to a South 1A Section title, will now play St. Alphonsus School in the quarterfinals of the 2011 Diocese of Pittsburgh championships on Sunday, March 6, at 2:15 p.m., also at Central Catholic.

St. Alphonsus defeated St. Bede School, 37-33, in an earlier first-round game on Friday to earn its spot in the quarterfinals. St. Alphonsus claimed the North 1A Section's No. 4 playoffs spot this year with a 7-5 section record.

Adam continued to pour it on the Titans in the second half before St. Gabe's Head Coach Rich Kuntz mercifully pulled him from the game with 4 minutes, 19 seconds left in the final quarter. By then, the hulking center-forward had already put up an eventual game-high 24 points.

But St. Teresa's was far from being out of the woods, especially with the Gators' Christian Del Greco still on the floor. Another eighth-grader, Christian proved that he's no slouch himself, piling up 19 points against the Titans, or 11 more than that team's highest-scoring player.

While Adam's size and speed are his best assets – he blocks shots and rebounds just as well as he scores easy buckets in the paint – Christian can flat-out shoot. He also runs well ... and passes.

Basically, the Gators do everything well. After emptying their bench a bit after a timeout with 2:50 left, the teams still played to a 3-3 tie the rest of the way, even though the Titans had most of their starters on the floor.

While the Gators are certainly deep, Adam and Christian were clearly the difference against St. Teresa's, though you wouldn't know it by talking to them.

Both players were quick to talk about the team as a whole and had nothing to say when asked about their individual goals for the rest of this season.

"Individually, we just try to use each other to get better," Adam said. "We try to pass the ball, box out and just do all we can."

Christian more or less concurred with Adam. Though, he did offer what the goals for the team are this season.

"We want to win the diocesan championship and then go on to states," Christian said, pointing out that St. Gabe's lost in the Diocese of Pittsburgh final last year.

With Adam and Christian on board, winning that diocesan title seems like more than just a possibility.