St. Mary's Athletics: 7th grade wins the championship

Saturday, February 20, 2010

7th grade wins the championship

The journey is complete.

Needing to win out, the 7th grade Red Team, consisting of only five players, did just that. They picked up wins in their last three regular season games to clinch the final playoff spot in the division, upset the number one and undefeated team in the semi-finals, and then went out this morning and won their first championship 41-37 over Cathedral.

It was a slow start to an otherwise exciting game, but the 7th grade boys pulled out to an early 7-0 lead. They closed out quarters with some huge baskets. Jeremy made a lay-up to end the first, and Miles had a buzzer-beater put back right before the half to make it a 25-15 game going into the break.

Miles had a game-high 14 points, was named the Round Table Pizza MVP and collected another double-double. He averaged 16 points in two playoff games.

But Miles put a scare into everyone by committing his fourth foul midway through the third quarter. But their offense was well spread throughout the game and the boys closed the game out for the title.

Their ability to respond was what put them over the hump today. Every time Cathedral made a big shot, the 7th graders would respond.

Michael N. drained three three-pointers and had 9 points, with each three coming at a crucial stage of the game. Jeremy had 11 points and hit a huge three pointer in the second half, as well as a lay-up toward the end of the game that sealed the deal.
Michael F. hit the first shot of the game again, and had two clutch free-throws down the stretch.

Justin had 3 points in the first quarter which gave them an early cushion and some confidence. He ran the point better as the year went on and cut down his turnovers by a huge margin.

They got away with some careless mistakes in this game, such as lob passes and not hitting some fast-break lay-ups. But they did enough in all the other aspects of the game to pull this one out to complete their dream season.

To even get to the playoffs was a struggle for this team, as they sat at (2-3), most likely needing to win every game from that point to even have a shot at winning the championship.

They played three teams on their home courts to close out the year, and then went to Epiphany to upset the previously (8-0) first place team.

Against Holy Name, they were down 13 points in the first half, and if they didn't make that comeback that game, we might not be talking about a championship today. They were only up three against St. Monica's in their final game heading into the fourth and played the final two minutes without Miles against Epiphany in last week's playoff game.

This team faced adversity and beat it every single time. Tonight, they will be cemented in history as one of the few teams that had only five players and won the championship.

CHAMPIONSHIP GAME BOXSCORE
Miles - 14 points
Jeremy - 11 points
Michael N. - 9 points
Michael F. - 4 points
Justin - 3 points

3-Pointers: Michael N. 3, Jeremy 1

Full Game Recap