On March 14, the EBYBL season came to a screeching halt due to the corona virus. That Saturday the 12 and under division was set to play their semifinal games. The 76ers lead by Sonny Sarro, Juan Torres, and John Paul Forbes, having defeated the Magic in week one featuring Matthew Scudiere and the much improved Heyden Schettino and Chris DiPrima, were set to take on the 2nd place Warriors. The Warriors with the outstanding trio of Angel Figueroa, Manny Santiago, and Jonathan Brown had defeated Christian Basile and the Spartans in a hard fought game the previous week. The other game featured Charlie Frazier, Chris Marroquin, Roman Cinelli, Caden Pelosi and the Blazers who had erased the Hornets lead by Christian Holt and Jordan Copeland against the Regular Season Champion Lakers, who had only dropped one game all season. Both games promised to be hard fought affairs. Unfortunately, like the NBA, the season was halted. As a result the Lakers due to their regular season dominance are being awarded the 2020 Championship. Coach Dan Nucci’s squad was very exciting to watch all year with their tough defense and unselfish offensive play. The team was led by the D’Amelio cousins Carmen, Michael, and David. All three shot very well but more importantly kept their teammates involved with their tremendous passing ability and leadership. Cam Testa and Johnny Ferarra were tenacious all season defensively. Chipping in offensively when needed. Rookies Giovanni Shire and Antonio Capogreco were very good coming off the bench. Both had key hoops in the opening round victory over the Celtics and their star Gideon Nieves who put a scare into the 1st place team.
That same day the Marty Pino Division run at the Paris St. Gym by Christian Lopez and Chris Snow were set to play their final game. It was a much anticipated match between the number two seed Lakers coached by former Savio standout Chris Snow and the top seeded Celtics coached by East Boston High legend Anthony Copeland. The Celtics according to Copeland were set to avenge their only loss of the season. Unfortunately the game was never played. As a result of their regular season record the Celtics are being awarded the championship. The Lakers team featured East Boston High Sophomore sensation Jr. Andular. He was the league’s top scorer. Other Laker players were Jason DaSilva, Elijah Canales, Angel and Luis Franco, and rookie Angel Figueroa. The Champion Celtics featured high scorer Miguel Pimental, Carmen D’Amelio, Kai Lau Quan, Jerry Lieske, Amaya Yarde, Ayman Amgher, Terrel Wilkerson, Daiquan Hinnant, and Charles Harris.
Congratulations to the Lakers and Celtics as well as all of the players for a fine season. Special thanks to all of our volunteers for their hard work. Without their efforts the league could not operate.