JDCHS boys basketball program looking good
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Freshman Gabe Colosimo is the Juan Diego Catholic High School basketball team’s second leading scorer with 10 points a game. He is shown here driving past a Highland defender, Dec. 30.
A few years ago, the Soaring Eagle Club was established to develop young basketball players who would feed in to the Juan Diego Catholic High School system. That program is now paying dividends. The four high school boys teams -- freshman, sophomore, junior varsity and varsity -- are a combined 38-21 so far this season.
“We are trying to improve the overall progress of our program,” second year coach Brandon Sluga said. “We are also striving for region and state excellence.”
The boys varsity squad started the season out strong with a 6-4 record behind senior Brian Curran’s 12 points a game and freshman Gabe Colosimo’s 10 points per contest. The duo also led the team in three-point shooting this year.
Juan Diego has defeated Bear River (57-54), Taylorsville (56-33), Hunter (51-48), East (61-51), Ben Lomond (45-41), Tooele (50-33) and Uintah (46-42) this season while losing to Morgan (455-49), Desert Hills (81-44), Hurricane (73-54), Cottonwood (49-38) and Highland (57-48). In region play, the team has struggled, going 0-4 against Union (58-49), Judge Memorial (57-40), Park City (65-46) and Wasatch (50-39). Currently, the team is 7-9 with five games left in the regular season.
Gabe’s cousins are also strong contributors to the team: Adam Colosimo leads the squad in assists while Nick Markosian is the leading rebounder for the Soaring Eagle team. The boys are trying to improve on a fourth place region finish and a first round loss at the state tournament last season.
Completing the family affair is a fourth cousin on the team, sophomore Dominic Colosimo. Others on the team include senior Jacob Davis; juniors Ryuta Tsuji, Erik Tita and Easton Withers; and sophomores Wyatt Parkin, Will Hoffler, Ryan Pauley, Billy Nipp, Jessie Springer and Brandon Bowen.
Those participating in the JDCHS feeder program are JD Ahlstrom, Brandon Alex, Matthew Bejarano, Kellan Bernardo, Nathan Brown, Sam Cassel, Lucas Castro, Brennan Fabry, David Fenton, Austin Gillespie, Barton Gooch, Brady Greene, Philip Hamel, Shane Hertgen, Kyle Hodges, Alex Hoffman, Zachary Hoffman, Avery James, Matt Kitzman, Pedro E. Martinez, Manny McKeever, Marshal Mekkelson, Blake Moore, Marcus Nelson, Zachary O’Sullivan, Cole Owens, Dillon Savage, Justin Sherrell, Cole Stratton, Anthony Van Ekelenburg, Jonathan Vollmer and Brody Wahlen.
