It was “March Madness” re-visited Monday evening during the Johnston Town Council meeting at the Municipal Courthouse off Atwood Avenue.
People were jammed into every nook-and-cranny of the main courtroom, which was filled with a number of sports celebrities like Justin Mazzulla and members of the St. Rocco’s Church boys’ basketball team.
In the middle of it all was Richard DelFino III, a first-term Johnston Town Councilman, who presented an Official Citation to Mazzulla for recently being named Rhode Island’s Gatorade Player of the Year.
“That honor is reserved for the best high school basketball player in the state,” DelFino told his Town Council colleagues and the standing-room-only crowd that spilled into the outer lobby. “Justin Mazzulla led Bishop Hendricken High School to this year’s 2015-2016 state championship.”
And Justin Mazzulla, who is the son of Johnston Recreation Director and former JHS/Bryant College star Dan Mazzulla, “is only a junior” as DelFino noted amid the thundering sound of applause. “He is being recruited by some of the best athletic and academic colleges and universities in the country.”
DelFino, who is a graduate of Bishop Hendricken where he starred in baseball and later graduated from Providence College, went on: “While the Town of Johnston has always had a reputation for excellence in sports, I’m proud to say that District I is home to our Little League all-star baseball champions, Justin as the Gatorade Player of the Year and tonight’s other honorees, our great St. Rocco’s basketball team that recently won the state championship.”
The District I Councilman also said how proud he was that Noel Acciari, a member of Providence College’s 2015 NCAA National Championship hockey team who now plays with the Boston Bruins, hails from District I.
“We’ll be watching Justin (Mazzulla) on national television someday,” DelFino predicted while explaining that the roundball phenom is only a junior. “He’s a great young man with a terrific work ethic both on the basketball court and in the classroom.”
DelFino then talked about the John Bittner-coached St. Rocco’s basketball team that played its way to the prestigious CAL (Rhode Island Catholic Athletic League) championship during the recently completed season.
“I’m proud of St. Rocco’s tradition of producing great basketball teams through the years,” said DelFino. “I played for the parish and later coached there and here it is 15 years later and I still have my jersey hanging in my home.”
DelFino praised the entire St. Rocco’s team and volunteer coaching staff for all their hard work and bringing home the state championship to Johnston.
St. Rocco’s team members are: Ricky Clarke, Alex Cadden, Jovanni Del Giudice, Vinnie Zullo, Mike Paton, Tyler Palumbo, Jake Picard, Alexis Del Giudice, Luke Warneke, Joey Morris and Nick Bittner. The team was led by Head Coach John Bittner and coaches Mike Forte and Dennis Paton.
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