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| The 6th grade won the championship Wednesday night. |
The cliche "defense wins championships" was proven Wednesday night at Epiphany as the 6th grade boys pulled off an improbable win, taking the title 15-9 over NDV.
Their previous two meetings were completely one-sided with the 6th grade boys losing by a combined score of 44-16. The last regular season meeting was an NDV drubbing, 20-3.
But despite that, their coaches Henry Deng and Larry Wong were confident that they had what it took to stop the undefeated number one team in the division.
Placing emphasis on defense, they were able to completely slow down the NDV offense, most notably their best player #3. From watching film and drilling it into the boys at practice over the last few days, the 6th graders came out prepared and ready to go.
Amarit had a team high 6 points to lead the way offensively and Bill controlled the paint again with several blocked shots, 4 points and some crucial rebounds down the stretch.
After trailing 2-0 to start the game, the boys tied it with a nice move by Bill to the basket. And then an Amarit shot by the basket put the 6th grade on top, and they held onto that lead until the end of the game.
It was a nice total team effort, and even though they didn't score much, defensively everybody stayed in their position and forced NDV to take bad shots or turn the ball over. Offensively, they also took care of the ball and limited their errant passes and giveaways.
Eric, who split free throws in the 2nd half, has become a really dependable point guard and a pest for other teams when he plays defense at the top of the key.
Dustin subbed back in during the 2nd quarter and instantly hit a shot, even though it looked awkward.
Kyle, who was held scoreless, was extremely vocal on the defensive end calling out signals to the rest of the team.
And Ethan hit two clutch free free throws on a 1-in-1 giving the 6th grade a much needed cushion and clinched the championship.
So a team that wasn't even .500 (3-5) during the regular season, found its way to a championship. They worked hard, executed and caught a few breaks along the way, but there is a small part of luck that comes with winning any title.
Twice, NDV had golden opportunities to turn the momentum in their favor. Both times, they were unable to execute. It was 8-3 in the final seconds of the 1st half, but an NDV player missed a wide open lay-up underneath the basket.
With 1:30 to go in the game, NDV just hit a basket to trim the lead to four. Eric then slipped and lost the ball in the backcourt, and yet again, NDV was unable to make a wide open lay-up.
The difference between the winning and losing may have come down to a handful of players and it was the 6th that grade that scored when it needed to, and made stops when it came down to crunch time.
Following their win over NDV, the 6th grade beat every team in their five team division on their way to the championship. They avenged their losses against both St. Anne's and NDV.
And as all of the players piled out of Epiphany wearing their first place t-shirts, they all echoed the same sentiment, that they in no way shape or form could've expected anything like this when the season began.
Larry wins 8th title: Larry Wong, who returned to the bench to coach the 6th grade along with Henry Deng, won his eight title as a basketball coach. It is Henry's first as a coach after winning two as a player back in the 2000s.
Game Notes: Annie, Sharon and Emily represented the girls of the 6th grade class and were in attendance. Also among the celebrities were Mr. Ryan, Mr. Lee, Leslie, Raymond, Garrick, Derek and Jamie...This marks the third time a St. Mary's team has had a big post-season upset win at Epiphany. Marissa's team did it when they were in 6th grade (2009) and the infamous Red Team did the same in 2010.
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