St. Pius X scored the first basket in the first minute of the game. St. Clare added a point off a free throw with two minutes left in the first quarter. Score at the end of the first quarter was 2 – 1 St. Pius X.  Barnburner in the making.

St. Pius X added another 2 points at the opening of the second quarter as both teams appeared warmed up and over the jitters. Another two points for St. Pius X made it a 6-1 game. With 37 seconds left in the first half, St. Clare scored a basket and controlled the ball until the buzzer ending with a score of 6-3 St. Pius X.

Second half action saw St. Clare score quickly adding two points to their deficit.  A foul with 1:12 in the quarter added one point to St. Clare, evening the score at 6-6.

St. Pius X started out the fourth quarter with a basket advancing 8-6 with St. Clare attempting a 1 and 1 and unable to convert.  The game was getting very exciting and the crowd was roaring after every shot.

With one minute to go, St. Clare tied the game at 8-8.  With 23 seconds left and a tied game, St. Pius X had a chance to score on a free throw but could not convert.  St. Clare had the same opportunity with 6 seconds left and missed, throwing the game into overtime tied 8-8.

Overtime 1:  (2 minutes)  With 42 seconds left in the first quarter, St. Clare scored one point on a one and one, leaving St. Pius X 35 seconds to battle back.  Pius was fouled with 31 seconds left in the game and they scored, squaring the game again at 9-9.  St. Clare with  19 seconds on the clock had another opportunity to score from a foul.  No luck.

Overtime 2: (1 minute) With 32 seconds left in overtime, St. Clare scored two points at their basket.  St. Pius could not convert on their foul throws following and had two opportunities to score with steals under their own basket.  A great game by both teams!

St. Clare 11-9 Final.

St. Clare: Sara, Sophia, Molly, Hadley, Sloan, Emery, Maeve, Addison.  Coaches: Derek Costarella, Jonathan Eames.  2017 CYO Third Grade Basketball Champions!

St. PIus X: Grace, Alexis, Annelies, Riley, Anna, Ashley, Emme, Reese, Lauren, Claire, Emma, Maeve.  Coaches: Marc McCullagh & Molly Reding.