Turnovers doom the Red Team

History will not be repeated as the Red Team was eliminated from the playoffs in an exciting and wild 35-31 loss earlier tonight at St. John's.

It was neck and neck all night, but the turnovers, missed lay-ups and free throws were too much to overcome.

There were several turnovers in the backcourt that led to wide open lay-ups for St. John.

The first time these two teams met, St. John was without their center, and with him in the lineup tonight, it was entirely different ballgame.

Their center was able to match Miles pound for pound, and the easy rebounds were a lot tougher tonight. The Red Team's big guy scored 12 points on the night.

Michael Ng hit two 3 pointers that energized the 8th graders as they were tied 17-17 going into halftime.

Justin, who had 8 points in his final St. Mary's basketball game, hit a long range jumper to give the Red Team a 19-17 lead but St. John stormed back with 6 straight points, 4 of those coming off turnovers in the backcourt.

Their out of bounds defense underneath the basket which hurt them all year, hurt them again tonight. On two occasions in the second half, St. John was able to inbound the ball directly to a player underneath the basket for an easy lay-up.

In a division like this, little mistakes are magnified and they prove to be the difference in the game.

With less than 3 minutes left, St. John stretched their lead out to 35-25, before the Red Team climbed back to within 4 points.

They had some chances to cut the lead down, but their shots in the second half just weren't falling.

They went to the line at will in the last few minutes of the game, but couldn't make a free throw. Overall, they shot 9-for-20 from the charity stripe.

These 8th graders however played with a purpose, and gave it their all, but unfortunately came up short.

It was a great change from their last three games where they played hesitant and tentative.

The Red Team gave it their all and that's all you could ask for, as the seven players wrapped up a spectacular basketball career at St. Mary's.