Judeanne Rockford
The Chill Guys pose after their win over UT Elite on March 21, 2025 at the Jewish Community Center in Utica.
After being rescheduled twice, the highly anticipated Church Youth Organization (CYO) Basketball matchup between Tilly’s Tots and the JCC Chill Guys took place on March 7 at the Jewish Community Center in Utica. Led by Johnny Vitullo’s 16 points and 15 points from Peyton Way, JCC came out victorious, 48-35.
Following a layup by Tilly’s Tots at the halftime buzzer, the Tots led the Chill Guys 18-16. The game stayed tight in the third quarter, before JCC started to pull away in the fourth, thanks to four three-pointers from Johnny.
For what was essentially a recreational league game, the atmosphere was as good as you can get.
“Some highlights [from] this season were a team of New Hartford kids playing a Whitesboro team and a lot of their classmates came to that game, so there was a lot of energy in the gym that day. Another great game was a recent matchup [between] two New Hartford teams and a lot of their classmates came to the game [as well],” Mr. Dave George told me, who is in his fourth year of running the CYO Basketball program.
The Tots and Chill Guys only have New Hartford students on their roster, so there was a lot of buzz around school prior to the game.
So what is this CYO hype all about?
“CYO is a program of Catholic Charities Oneida/Madison County based in Utica [that] provides youth basketball for kids in central NY that focuses on sportsmanship,” Mr. George said. “CYO Basketball is a place where you can play the game of basketball with kids that you normally wouldn’t come in contact with at your school and it’s a league for kids that do not play on their school teams.”
A major reason that players love CYO so much is because it isn’t associated with school ball. There are few to no practices, so it is not nearly as time-consuming as playing Varsity.
New Hartford junior Peyton Way, who is in his third year playing CYO, said, “my favorite part about playing CYO is [that] I get to play with my friends in an enjoyable rec league.”
“[I like] being able to play organized basketball stress-free,” said New Hartford senior Connor Adsit, who is also in his third year of CYO basketball. Despite being on a two-win St. Paul’s team this year, he still thoroughly enjoys playing.
CYO brings people together throughout our area.
“While I was coaching, we always combined kids from Utica, New Hartford, and Whitesboro who came together for a common cause and I felt this was beneficial for both the kids and our community,” Mr. George said.
This year, along with the ten high school teams, there are four middle school teams, and a new Biddy Basketball division.
“[The] Biddy program [has been] really fun, and it has brought a lot of families together to come watch their games,” Mr. George said.
If you want to play basketball and have fun doing it, seriously consider signing up for CYO next winter, or even starting a team yourself.
Mr. George recommends, “you should sign up for CYO so that you can meet new people, get exercise playing the great game of basketball, and have something fun to look forward to every weekend!”
On Friday, March 21, both the Chill Guys and Tilly’s Tots played their semifinal matchups. The three-seed Chill Guys avenged two-seed UT Elite in the “A” bracket 62-59 in a high-energy rematch. The Tots won their semifinal Friday night and the “B” bracket championship game Saturday! Unfortunately, the Chill Guys lost the “A” championship to undefeated Kings Pro on Saturday morning, but it was a great season for both New Hartford squads nonetheless.
The teams would like to thank all of the students who came out to the games, and a special thank you to Mr. George and Catholic Charities for making this season a memorable one!