Championship Tuesday Preview

When: Tuesday, February 17 @ 8 p.m.
Where: Mission Dolores (16th Street and Church)

In just a little over 24 hours, the 7th grade will tip-off for the championship for the third straight year. They will face OLV, in a rematch of last year's championship, ironically on the same exact day 365 days ago.

Whether the 7th grade is a favorite or underdog is up for interpretation. They were the best team in their division record wise, but their one loss came against OLV. In that game, they played a great first quarter, and then a bad three quarters. The question is, which team will show up?

When on, the 7th grade was quicker, more aggressive and took care of the ball. When they were off, there was a lot of missed free-throws and careless mistakes, such as throwing the ball out of bounds, or in some cases right to the other team.

All signs will point to a close game, but here are some of the things that the 7th grade must do to secure a second straight championship.

--Limit the turnovers. They simply cannot give the other team fast break opportunities. Defensively, they are pretty solid in the half-court, but getting back on defense sometimes can be problematic. When you turn the ball over, fast break points against you come a lot quicker and a lot more often.

--No stupid fouls. In many games this year, the team has committed a lot of fouls that are simply unnecessary. Fouling in the back court or bailing other players out. They need to play smart defense, move their feet and not their hands.

--Free throws. This team is very big inside and down low and will draw their share of fouls. The free throw line has been unkind to them this year. Lately, they have been a lot better, and they will need to be tomorrow night.

As one St. Mary's coach put it, the 7th grade has a very good squad with all the components. Outside shooting, inside presence, rebounders, shot blockers, those who play defense and people who hustle. When it comes together, nobody in this division can stop them.

It'll all come full circle tomorrow night. The first championship was hard, but the second is always a bit harder. See you tomorrow night from Mission Dolores!