SEMINARIAN FORMATION
Two-time Tournament Winners
Lions fight back to claim Mundelein and
Josephinum championships
Alberto Nickerson, Sacred Heart seminarian
O
a frigid, late-January weekend, the Sacred Heart
Lions traveled to their sixth Fr. Patrick O’Malley
Mundelein Basketball Tournament, held at
Mundelein Seminary, Mundelein, Illinois.
Following a first round loss to Kenrick-Glennon
Seminary, the Lions dispatched Conception
Seminary College in the semifinal, and then
played a rematch against Kenrick-Glennon
for the championship. Down 30-21, the Lions
fought back but found themselves down by
twelve points with ten minutes to go, and two
points down with two minutes remaining.
The Lions tied the score 45-45. With five
seconds remaining, Jared Holzhuter’s second foul
shot went through the net, sealing the victory for
Sacred Heart.
Checking out the team trophies and representing the entire Sacred Heart
Lions basketball squad are Clint Olson, left, Scott Jablonski, Vince Richardson,
John Machiorlatti, Jared Holzhuter, and Lions coach Fr. Mike McDermott, SJ.
Not even the polar vortex could cool the
excitement of the Sacred Heart community—
though a snowstorm did delay the winning
team’s return. Another point of pride: Sacred
Heart’s Vince Richardson won the tournament’s
MVP award.
The Lions also won its fourth consecutive
Josephinum Tournament championship. It was
held the weekend of February 15, at the Pontifical
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MOSAIC
The Lions played well and looked good, too, in
their new uniforms, courtesy of a surprise gift by a
Sacred Heart supporter.
College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio. This
marks only the second time the Lions won the
Mundelein and Josephinum championships in
the same year under Coach Fr. Mike McDermott
SJ; the last time being in 2011. Clint Olson won
the MVP award this time, while deadeye Scott
Jablonski won the 3-point shootout contest.
Reflecting on the team’s success, Father
McDermott says, “We played very well as a team;
there are no big egos; the players like each other
and help each other continually.
“There is also a lot of grit in the players. Not
only did we lose a game in each tournament and
come back to win, but also we came back to win
games in which we were down.”
The players looked sharp, too, wearing their
new uniforms purchased through the donation
of a generous benefactor. “We are very grateful,”
Coach McDermott says, especially “so that we
don't look like a rag-tag team when we first come
out on the floor. The Sacred Heart Lions match
up well with all other seminary teams.”
To bring home the championships is a great
feeling, Holzhuter says, although “no one is
under the illusion that seminary basketball carries
any weight in the world.
“But there’s something special about striving
after a goal with brothers. To see that oversized
trophy on the receptionist’s desk, to have the
whole community congratulating us—it means
a lot.”