After the 7th grade Red Team lost a heart-breaker less than a month ago, the message was simple: Win out and get to the playoffs. Saturday -- mission accomplished.
The 7th graders fell behind early 6-0, but played some decent basketball the rest of the first half. They were tied 18-18 going into the break.
They took a 24-21 lead late in the third, but gave up four straight points to end the quarter. Going into the fourth, they trailed 27-26. In their biggest quarter to date, they needed their biggest performance. And they got it.
Michael F. made a putback to put them up by one and they never looked back. Miles was a beast again on the offensive glass, and had a game-high 12 points. And with a five point lead, Jeremy hit a three to give the 7th graders an 8-point lead with less than three minutes to go.
They stretched it out to as much as 10 points and they sealed it in the final two minutes when Michael N. hit a jumper, and Jeremy found Justin for an easy lay-up.
Their defense woke up and their transition game was too much for the other team to handle. The final score was 41-31, as the 7th grade clinches the fourth and final playoff spot in their division.
At (5-3), they won three straight to close out the regular season. Their opponent today, had the same record going into today's game. This was essentially a playoff game, with the victor going to the post-season and the loser going home.
With only five players on the team, they are at an incredible disadvantage and have had to fight back in the last two games. In their last game, they overcame a disastrous first half, trailing by as much as 13 points at one time. In Saturday's contest, they shook off an early lull when they were sleep walking through the first few minutes of the game.
Jeremy had 11 points, while Justin and Michael N. had 8 points a piece. Once again, everybody on the team scored.
In addition to the players, the coaching staff of James Chiu, Vinette Ly and John Wang deserve a great pat on the back, keeping this team focused game in and game out when they were faced with elimination.
Like Vinette's Facebook status says, "Playoffs, are you ready for us?"
Other Results
The 8th grade won their final game of the season, blowing the other team 41-21, while the 3rd/4th graders, playing without Jonathan and Grant, lost 10-6 to close out their year.
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