6th and 8th Grade White Team Playoff Preview

The White Team and the 6th grade boys will take center stage Friday night, as both teams try to advance to the championship.

For the 6th grade, they will be underdogs and for the second straight year, try to pull off an upset. They were (4-4) in the regular season, the same record they have held now for three years straight in the regular season.

They will play at Epiphany against Epiphany, where they faced off against them in game two of the regular season.

That game was one of a few games that the 6th graders came out without energy, something that cannot happen tomorrow night if they want to pull off an upset.

If St. Mary's vs Epiphany history repeats itself, it could be good news for the 6th grade.

Twice in the last two years, a St. Mary's team that held the fourth seed, upset Epiphany at Epiphany, with the current 8th grade girls doing it in 6th grade and last year's Red Team winning that instant classic.

But for that to happen, the 6th grade will need to be clicking and they can't afford their lapses that they are prone to have.

Rebounds are going to be a decider so their post players, Brendan, Brandon Khuu and Daniel will need to play physical.

The 6th grade shoots the ball pretty well, so hitting their outside shots are going to be a must, because they have trouble scoring inside against other bigger players.

If the 6th grade can hang around in the first half and keep the score close, it will be their advantage  in the second half, because their press is usually pretty strong and it triggers their offense.

They need to avoid playing a slow paced game, otherwise, it will be a lot of jump shots from the outside.

White Team
The White Team last played West Portal in their first game of the year, so it's been a while since these two teams locked up.

This will be the first playoff game for 3 of the 6 players on the White Team.

At (7-1), they are the overwhelming favorites against a team that didn't even have a .500 record and made it into the playoffs at (3-5). Their division was so poor that a (2-6) team took the fourth spot.

One thing the White Team needs to be careful about is to not overlook their opponent, something that can come naturally considering the success the White Team has had this year, as well as the disparity in the records.

Also, they'll need to play a solid game to not only win, but also give them momentum going into a possible championship clash against what is most likely going to be Holy Name.

A lot of this lies in the hands of Mark, who is the anchor of this team. Mark will not only need to score himself but get others on his team involved.

In their last regular season game, Mark accounted for all but 4 of his team's points, and their play overall was something head coach John Wang was not happy about.

Calson will need to play like a big man, and all the other natural wing players, the Gavins, Timmy and Robert need to knock down some open shots on the wings.

Mark will be able to penetrate and dish, and if his teammates start hitting more shots, Mark gets more comfortable passing it off, instead of forcing up tough shots.

Both of these games will be there for the taking tomorrow night, let's see who grabs it.