Chaminade's JV basketball team has been showcasing its impressive defense throughout the season thus far. This lockdown D was especially on display in recent showdowns against St. John the Baptist and Don Bosco Prep, both of which took place in the AAC over a three-day stretch in mid-December.

On Thursday, December 12, the Flyers took on St. John the Baptist, with Chaminade overcoming a slow start to ultimately top the Cougars, 58-20.

The Flyers' head coach, Thomas O'Connell, credited St. John's active zone defense - one which stifled Chaminade at the game's start. However, after some adjustments, the Flyers were able to move the ball better and find higher-quality looks against the defense, which had no response.

Chaminade's Jonathon Walsh and Andreas Donas displayed dominance of the boards, with both snagging key rebounds to help keep the Flyers early in the contest.

However, the difference in the game was the Flyers' inspired defense, one which surrendered just 20 total points, an average of five per quarter. This ability to keep the Cougars in check early was critical to the Flyers' win. Once the Chaminade offense started to come alive - led by a group of guards who had started to find and knock down threes from all over the court - the team never looked back.

Coach O'Connell credited this offensive turnaround to Nicholas Sweeney and Liam McNamara, who led the Flyers in assists and were critical to providing the ball movement necessary to find those open looks. The majority of Chaminade's points in this game came via assists, something which was important to Coach O'Connell.

"That's a tribute to guys playing as a team and creating shots for each other," said O'Connell after the game.

Joseph DiSanza gave the Flyers a huge lift off the bench in the latter half of the game. He provided the game's exclamation point with a breakaway dunk late in the fourth to help his Flyers pull away.

The victory brought the Flyers to 4-0 in the league and 5-0 overall, but one of those perfect marks would fall just two days later.

On Saturday, December 14th, New Jersey powerhouse Don Bosco Prep came to the AAC and handed the Flyers their first loss of the season, winning a heartbreaker at the buzzer, 35-34.

The game was very low scoring as a direct result of the incredible defense displayed by both teams. The Flyers' unit started the game playing very aggressively, but on the other side of the court, their offense struggled to get things going against an equally active Bosco defensive unit.

Chaminade's Walsh was able to use his size to dominate the glass, which gave his Flyers a number of extra possessions and shots, but unfortunately, Chaminade struggled to finish against the talented Bosco squad.

Although the Flyers had trouble producing points on offense, they were able to move the ball around well and create chances. Late in the second quarter, the Flyers' offense started to show signs of emergence after Sweeney netted a three and then immediately caused a defensive turnover which translated to two more points for the Flyers.

At the end of the first half, Chaminade held a tight lead, 18-17.

In the second half, the intensity of the game began to pick up, as it became more physical and, consequently, more fouls were called. Neither team could take advantage of this, however, as they both struggled from the free throw line - a place either team could have found far more of the precious points they needed to win this contest.

Late in the fourth quarter, Bosco began to pull away, hitting a series of clutch shots to take the lead. Chaminade responded with a quick layup by Sweeney and an important steal from Jake Elwood, which led to a layup by Walsh.

A shot-clock violation left the Flyers with possession and 3.7 seconds left to play, trailing 35-34.

Ellwood received the inbounds pass and cut down the right side of the lane amid three Bosco defenders, but his scoop layup fell off the front rim as time expired to hand the Flyers their first loss of the season.

Over the upcoming Christmas break, Coach O'Connell is confident that his team will "get in the gym and put up shots" on their own to prepare for the tough stretch of schedule that awaits them in January - one which features matchups against several city schools, games sure to test these Flyers as the calendar turns to 2025.