.jpg "Selinsgrove Seals boys basketball takes down Holy Redeemer 61-45 in home opener")
Selinsgrove Seals boys basketball takes down Holy Redeemer 61-45 in home opener
By: Benjamin Snyder | SportzWire | December 3, 2025 | Photo courtesy Steve Varias
The Selinsgrove Seals defeated the Holy Redeemer Royals last evening 61-45 to advance to 1-0.
Q1 – It all started with the Royals jumping out to a 4-0 lead thanks to Kyaire McLean and Cody Quaglia. The Seals scored their first point of the game off of a Mac DeFazio free throw, making the score 4-1. Griffin Parker got to the line shortly after and went one for two. Momentum swung in favor of the Seals after a fast break dunk from Xaivier Jackson.
The Seals made some subs and junior Julian Torres converted a two-point shot to give the Seals a 6-4 lead. Torres was great off of the bench all night long, presenting strong, physical defense. Immediately after Torres’ bucket, Cody Quaglia came back with a shot of his own, moving the score to 6-6. Mac DeFazio, Xaivier Jackson, and Noah Walter each pitched in 2 points to increase the lead to 12-6 before Jackson struck again, making the score 14-6. On the Seals 8-0 run, Jackson knocked down his second dunk of the game. The Royals responded with a 7-0 run of their own which consisted of baskets from Charlie Schaffer, Lucas Schrader, and Cody Quaglia (14-13 Seals at the conclusion of Q1).
Q2 – The second quarter started with lots of sloppy play from both teams, including a couple of fouls. Mac DeFazio was able to connect for two points to start the quarter followed by a Cody Quaglia deuce (16-15 Seals). Mac DeFazio was able to connect on a 3 pointer from the corner to put the Seals up by four, but shortly after he committed a foul. It didn’t take long for the Seals to regain possession thanks to a Xaivier Jackson steal and score. After some substitutions and a timeout, the Seals continued their lead to 26-16. During that span Julian Torres hit a three pointer and Xaivier Jackson knocked down a two pointer. Alex Gordon got his first points of the game on a three pointer to decrease the Seals lead to seven (26-19). Near the end of the first half, Griffin Parker drilled a shot from range to put the Seals up 29-19 heading into the break.
Q3 – Holy Redeemer came out of the break hot as they compiled a 6-0 run. During the run Cody Quaglia, Quron Drayton, and Kaden Sepkoski all converted two-point shots. After Sepkoski’s make, Seals head coach Justin Keiser took a timeout to regroup. Out of the timeout, Mac DeFazio was fouled by Kaden Sepkoski which led to two free throw attempts. DeFazio knocked one down to build on the small lead (30-25 Seals). Holy Redeemer’s Cody Quaglia responded with a three pointer, however, Xaivier Jackson converted a two point shot followed by a fancy Noah Walter layup (34-28 Seals). Shortly after, Chase Carter and Jack Piecuch put up their first points of the game to add 4 on to their lead. Chase scored another 2 points followed by a 3 point knockout punch from Xaivier Jackson. The third quarter came to a close there.
The Student Section was wild all night long and they carried their presence into the fourth quarter.
Q4 – Quron Drayton opened the fourth quarter with a bucket for the Royals. Noah Walter responded with a bucket of his own. The Royals then scored five straight to shrink the Seals lead to ten. Noah Walter got to the free throw line and went to business, making both shots to give the Seals a 47-35 lead.
Jack Piecuch commited a foul shortly after which brought Kaden Sepkoski to the line, where he drilled both free throws. Piecuch made up for it by knocking down another shot.
Lucas Schrader then connected on two three pointers in a minute span, but during that span Chase Carter hit a shot for the Seals. Xaivier Jackson followed all of that with three converted shots in the paint (6PTS) to boost the Seals lead to 14. As the game neared the close, Cody Quaglia scored his final two points of the game to finish with 16. Mac DeFazio and Griffin Parker accounted for the final four points of the game, earning the Seals a 61-45 victory.
POSTGAME
After the conclusion of the game, I was able to meet with the Selinsgrove Head Coach, Justin Keiser. When asked what stood out to him about his team in the victory he stated they were, “playing really hard, defending as a team, rebounding as a team, offensively moving the ball… being aggressive” and he stated that he loved what he saw out of his guys.
Xaivier Jackson scored 21 points during the game, leading to the second question asked… “What stands out about Xaivier Jackson?”, Coach stated, “He’s special, he can do it all, he can score at all three levels, he makes his teammates better”. Coach Keiser is passionate about Jackson and is excited what is in store for him during the rest of the season.
As of the release of this article (on baselinebensnyder.wordpress.com), Selinsgrove is 2.5 hours out from their matchup against Mount Carmel.
I asked coach Keiser how the Seals plan on carrying their momentum into that game and he stated, “We just need to rest up, Mount Carmel we know is hard-nosed, they’re gonna play really hard, we just gotta continue to focus on that underdog mentality and the rest will take care of its self”.
A well said response by coach Keiser revealed that Mount Carmel plays with a chip on their shoulder and the Seals need to focus on possessing an underdog mentality. They are up for a matchup with anyone, and they strive to play as the underdog during any given matchup (and play hard when it’s tough).
