Damien High School

Damien High School held on late to defeat Bishop Amat, 69-62, for its second straight West Covina boys basketball tournament title.

The Spartans (9-0) had their nine-point lead to start the fourth quarter whittled down to three with under two minutes to play before junior Chris Reyes finished inside to give Damien a 63-58 advantage with 1:33 to play. Junior Clayton White converted two free throws to push the lead to seven with under a minute remaining.

Lancers senior Daniel Rodriguez drove in for a layup, but could not convert the free throw after being fouled and Bishop Amat trailed 65-60 with 38 seconds to go. Damien made four free throws late and Rodriguez's layup with five seconds left finished the scoring.

Varsity Basketballo (5-0) defeated Covina 76 to 56. They had a 33-10 lead after the first quarter in handily defeating the Colts (3-3). Chris Reyes and Ryan Tatera scored 15 points apiece for Damien, and Gian Demano had 12 and J.P. Chakbazof scored 11.

As we move into the month of December and the end of the 1st semester, we look back on the month of November and realize there is much to be thankful for here at Damien High School. Our Homecoming Spirit Week was a smashing success. Thanks to all of the students who helped make the week special. I would like to the thank the Activities Coordinators, especially Angela Curry, Dominic Zampiello, and Chris Douglas for all of their hard work in making the week fun filled for the whole Damien community.

The Homecoming game the night of November 12th will go down in history as one of the best and most exciting games played at Dick Larson Stadium. Our Spartans beat rival Claremont 31-27. In a show of appreciation, Coach Gano gave the game ball to our President, Fr. Travers, who was smiling from ear to ear after such a great game!

Damien debaters Pablo Gannon and Richard Mancuso took 1st place at the Northwestern University Debate Tournament, defeating the 6 teams in the round-robin format.  Senior Pablo Gannon was the tournament's Top Speaker. This is the second year in a row Damien has won at Northwestern, bringing to a close a very successful week of debating in the Chicago suburbs. On Monday, Pablo and senior Nadeem Farooqi finshed 3rd out of 180 teams from 25 states at The Glenbrooks Debate Tournament, and Pablo Gannon won the 2nd Place Speaker Award, which placed him ahead more than 350 of the top debaters in the nation. Gannon and Farooqi will debate next in Nashville, January 8-9, at the Southern Bell Forum, held at the Montgomery Bell Academy.

The Veterans Day / Spirit Week Episode. Includes Veterans Day tribute, Faculty Basketball, Student vs Faculty Football, Tori Blake concert, Gates getting slimed, Sports Rally, a great Sportszone segment and more! Please leave comments for the video on the Spartan Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/DamienSpartans
 

Greetings from the Principal’s office! As November begins, we thank God for all of the blessings he has bestowed upon us and look forward to a fruitful Thanksgiving season.

There are many things to be thankful for here on campus. October was action-packed with many activites. The dedication of Dick Larson Stadium on Oct. 23^rd was a highlight of the month. It was great to see Dick and his family and the many alumni and friends of Damien that showed up for the mass and dedication that morning.

The next day we had a successful Open House for 8^th graders interested in attending Damien. Our turnout was much bigger than last year. Hopefully we will have a large and enthusiastic freshmen class for next year.

On Wednesday, Oct. 27^th we had our 1^st ever Quiz Bowl, which was a game show-like competition between our Houses. The DePorres House was victorious (which is my house – but we won no thanks to me). Congrats to House Dean Mr. Hoffman and all the members of DePorres!