7th graders fall in championship

The 7th grade's quest for a repeat fell short in a 32-24 loss tonight at Mission Dolores.

After beating OLV last year for their first championship, the tables turned the other way and the 7th graders had to settle for second place.

Tommy got injured minutes into the game and that kind of crushed the spirits of the team. They needed someone to step up and unfortunately nobody did. Sloppy passes and the inability to break the press lead to a lot of unanswered points.

They were also not very good from the free-throw line, going 2-for-10. They also missed their share of lay-ups and those ultimately will come back to hurt you in a game of this magnitude.

After holding a 7-4 lead after one, the second quarter was not kind to them and they fell behind by 5 at the half. They cut the lead to 1 late in the 3rd quarter, but the team didn't have that sense of urgency. You couldn't feel like the game was changing, despite the lead only at 1.

Trailing by 4 entering the fourth, the 7th graders just simply ran out of gas. After battling so hard the first three quarters, there wasn't much left in the tank and OLV became the champions in the 7-6 division.

Despite the loss, the 7th grade was (7-1) in the regular season and reached the championship game for the third straight year. Many teams get bumped up divisions and have a terrible year. Instead, this team almost duplicated their championship season of the year before.

It was one bad game, but as a whole, this season was an astounding success, and they have a lot to be proud of. They will likely be bumped up again next season, and will need to elevate their game even more.

Unfortunately, tonight was not their night.

Game Notes:Tom had a monster first half, scoring 10 of the St. Mary's 11 points...Tommy returned later in the game but clearly wasn't his normal 100% self...Mr. Ryan attended the game.

Birthday: Happy Birthday to Tiffy 2.0.