Saturday Recap: 8th grade back to .500

**HIGHLIGHTS UPDATED**

Marissa drained four 3 pointers, setting a St. Mary's modern day record, including three in a row in the third quarter, which gave the 8th graders enough cushion en route to a 26-21 victory, which puts them back at .500 on the season.

After a frustrating start to the season, the girls got a much needed win in a game they had to win.

Precious had the performance of her rookie season, scoring 6 points. She was aggressive on both ends of the court, pressuring the ball relentlessly and taking the ball fearlessly to the hoop. Her basket in the fourth accounted for the only St. Mary's bucket in the final seven minutes.

The girls took a 10-0 lead late in the first, only to see it get cut in half. A 3 pointer right at the buzzer made it 10-5 after one.

Starting off strong in both halves was something the girls needed to work on and they did a great job getting ahead in the first and third. Leading by only three points at halftime, the girls took command of the game thanks to Marissa's threes, which gave them a 24-12 lead going into the fourth.

But their breakdowns came back to almost haunt them in the fourth as they were sloppy with the ball and were unable to make the easy shots down low.

In the end it was enough for them to even their record at (2-2) on the season.

Marissa had a game high 18 points.

5th grade put away in the second half
The 5th grade found themselves in a 2-2 tie with 10 seconds left in the first half. But they gave up a last second putback and the game slipped away from that point on.

In the end, they lost 16-4, and dropped to (1-4) on the season.

Fiona played a solid game and was able to get off a lot of good shots. She was aggressive to the basket, but her shots didn't fall.

The big problem today was rebounding. The girls are undersized, but a lot of rebounding is boxing out and being in position. They weren't in good positions and weren't able to box out. It would also help if some of their post players would jump for the ball.

Fiona and Edwena scored the 4 points for the 5th grade.

Offense missing in morning games
Scoring was at a premium in the two early games as the 4th and 6th/7th grade combined to score only 6 points between the both of them.

Not surprisingly, both teams lost.

The teams they faced were not so flashy either as the 4th grade went to overtime for the second straight week, and for the third straight week, lost by two points.

These are games that a young team has trouble winning, and games that good teams don't let slip away. Right now, the 4th graders are the former, a young and inexperienced team.

In total, they missed 11 lay-ups.

When the final score is 4-2, those points are definitely huge.

Again, they did not make a free throw and their drought from the line continues as they went 0-for-6.

Miracle scored in the first quarter, but the team never found the bucket again. The other team made their only shot in regulation in the third quarter.

The winning basket came off a rebound that the girls were unable to grab. Rebounding is a huge problem right now as nobody boxes out and grabs the ball. Something so simple has been proven to be very difficult for a lot of the girls' teams this season.

With less than 10 seconds left, the girls had a chance to tie the game off a missed shot, but again, they missed a lay up. They were at the free throw line with 6 seconds to go in the game, but neither shot made it through.

At (1-3), it's going to be a difficult hole to climb out of for a team that was thinking playoffs after two great wins at the beginning of the year.

The 6th/7th grade didn't score until the 4th quarter and winded up losing 10-4.

Their offense just was not clicking today and the girls seemed to be off, compared to their stellar performances the last two weeks.

For the season, they currently sit (2-2).

Pamela scored all 4 points for the 7th grade.