CYO 5th Grade Boys Make History in Playoff Game


2024 CYO 5th Grade Boys City Championship at Valley Catholic School

Home Team: Franciscan Montessori Earth School

Coaches: Adrian Esteban, Alex Esteban

Players: Daniel, Diego, Ethan, Herbie, Jackson, Koji, Lyons, Nebie

Mascot: Saints

Visiting Team: St. Clare

Coaches: Kevin Myers, Matt Williams

Players: Ahren, Bennett, Canyon, Emmett, Liam, Oliver, Sam, Santiago, Silas, Tim

Mascot: The Dragons

Game Highlights:

A slow paced, balanced game, tied with 1:50 left in the third quarter thanks to 3 steals by the Saints, Lyons and shooting by Ethan. The Saints took the lead after a 6-point deficit near the end of the third quarter.

HISTORY: This was the first time Franciscan Montessori Earth School has won the City Championship level, the highest level of the CYO Basketball Tournament. 

Quarter 1: Franciscan Montessori Earth School 6 – St. Clare 9

Quarter 2: Franciscan Montessori Earth School 16 – St. Clare 15

Quarter 3: Franciscan Montessori Earth School 29 – St. Clare 25

Quarter 4: Franciscan Montessori Earth School 44 – St. Clare 34

CYO 5th Girls Find Gold and Silver at The City Tournament


2024 CYO 5th Grade Girls City Championship at Valley Catholic School

Home Team: St. Pius X

Coaches: Karie Conner, Katherine Wight, Mariah Johnson, Michael Liu

Players:  Audrey, Charlotte, Eleanor, Gabrielle, Genesis, Ivy, Jeter, Layla, Natalia

Mascot: Panthers

Visiting Team: St. Anthony

Coaches: Ashley Bouchard, Charlie Keller

Players: Allie, Amara, Brielle, Caroline, Emerson, Holly, Kendall, Lea, Paige, Resa, Riley, Sloane, Zoe

Mascot: The Hawkes

Game Highlights:

St. Pius X came out to an early lead outscoring St. Anthony by 15 in the first quarter.  Layla’s height and athleticism enabled the Panthers to keep control of the ball.

In the second quarter, the Panthers again came out scoring, rebounding, and controlling the ball.  With 2 minutes left in the quarter, the Hawkes began scoring and added 7 points to the tally.

Caitlin Clark, the inspirational, NCAA record breaking scorer is influencing the play in girls’ basketball and it is evident from the bleachers!

In the third quarter, the Hawkes outscored the Panthers and slightly reduced the deficit to 22 points behind the skillful shooting and ball handling of St. Anthony’s Riley and Sloane.

Both teams had some great young players who are developing very good skills.  As they continue to grow and mature, we will see these teams again and who knows what it might look like next year!  So far, my favorite game of the tournament.

Quarter 1: St. Pius X 21 – St. Anthony 6

Quarter 2: St. Pius X 37 – St. Anthony 13

Quarter 3: St. Pius X 51 – St. Anthony 29

Quarter 4: St. Pius X 66 – St. Anthony 38

CYO 4th Boys Barnburner Championship


2024 CYO 4th Grade Boys City Championship at Valley Catholic School

Home Team: St. Clare

Coaches Randy Morrison, Jason Varga, Erick Dennis

Players: Archie, Colin, Henry, Jack, James, Kinsley, Luca, Reid, Tate

Mascot:

Visiting Team: St. Pius X

Coaches: Darin Widmer, Sam Greenstein

Players: Charlie, Chase, Everett, Ford, Graha, Jack, Leo, Michael, Spencer

Mascot: x

Game Highlights:

Exciting first quarter with a lot of good play between the teams, evenly matched with a quarter ending score of 10-10.

St. Clare went ahead by ten in the third quarter.  St. Pius X fought their way back in the fourth quarter.  With 1:20 left in the game the Panthers, Chase, sunk a 3 pointer to go ahead by 2.

Quarter 1: St. Clare 10 – St. Pius X 10

Quarter 2:

Quarter 3: St. Clare 32 – St. Pius X 25

Quarter 4: St. Clare 34 – St. Pius X 36

CYO City Basketball 4th Girls Settled…


2024 CYO 4th Grade Girls City Championship at Valley Catholic School

Home Team: St. Thomas More

Coaches Kevin Clausen, Travis Paul, Coleen Jamison

Players: Ayla, Claire, Emery, January, Josie, June, Ilian, Maggie, Soliana

Mascot: Bulldogs

Visiting Team: Our Lady of the Lake

Coaches: Kim Van Syoc-Lapainis, Kevin Hanna

Players: Cammia, Chiara, Francesca, Giana, Katelyn, Maeve, Mia, Poppy, Savannah, Tiffany, Zoe

Mascot: Cats

Quarter 1: St. Thomas More 4 – Our Lady of the Lake

Quarter 2:

Quarter 3: St. Thomas More 19 – Our Lady of the Lake 15

Quarter 4: St. Thomas More 27 Our Lady of the Lake 17

CYO 3rd Grade Boys City Championship and the Winner is…


2024 CYO 4th Grade Boys City Championship at Valley Catholic School

Home Team: St. Thomas More (Portland)

Coaches Brian Chaney, Eddie La Berge, Jeffrey Borlaug, Matthew Uchtman, Sean McMenamin

Players: Aiden, Cole, Henry, Jackson, James, Miller, Oliver, Oliver, Sean, Theo

Mascot: Bulldogs Red & White

Visiting Team: St. Anthony (Tigard)

Coaches: Justin Schmitz, Matthew Rocha, Alex Umbdenstock

Players: Aryan, Bandon, Benjamin, Chase, Eli, Joseph, Justin, Kian, Logan, Parker, Samuel, Vincent

Mascot: The Hawks

Game Highlights:

A fast-paced game with both teams running back and forth between the baskets, scoring intermittently. St. Thomas More, undefeated during regular season play, towered above, and outsized the Hawks.  A few years in the future will change the dynamics between the two teams.

Quarter 1: St. Thomas More 12 – St. Anthony 9

Quarter 2: St. Thomas More 24 – St. Anthony 15

Quarter 3: St. Thomas More 22 – St. Anthony 41

Quarter 4: St. Thomas More 49 – St. Anthony 30

CYO Third Grade Girls city Championship game Decided


2024 CYO 3rd Grade Girls City Championship at Valley Catholic School

Home Team: St. Cecilia

Coaches: Danielle Dausman, Dennis Masi, Matt McMullen, Sarah Messenger

Players: Annie, Audrey, Ava, Campbell, Emily, Gabriela, Hadley, Julia, Kayleigh, Millie, Sophie

Mascot: Cyclones Blue & White

Visiting Team: St. Pius X

Coaches: Jeff Hern, Steven Gassert

Players: Andrea, Catherine, Ellisyn, Heidi, Lucia, Nora, Sophia, Sutton

Mascot: Panthers Green & White

Game Highlights: No shooting from the logo in this game but lots of back and forth running from basket to basket as the girls worked to get the ball in the hoop.  St. Pius X Scored 6 early in the second quarter to go ahead by 6 and added 4 in the third quarter to lead St. Cecilia by 8 going into the fourth quarter.

St. Cecilia came alive in the fourth quarter scoring 6 toward the end, behind by 2 with 1:18 left to go.  With 40.5 left in the game, Audrey was fouled and the Cyclones got another chance to inbound the ball under their basket.  The Panthers grabbed it and headed to the other end stepping out of bounds.  St. Cecilia made several attempts to get the ball through the hoop.  With 8 seconds on the clock, the Panthers, Sophia, shot two free throws swishing them both like Caitlyn Clark on a Friday night.

With .09 seconds, St. Cecilia’s Audrey had two shots, but the basket continued to evade the Cyclones today.

Quarter 1: St. Cecilia 4 – St. Pius X 7

Quarter 2: St. Cecilia 7 – St. Pius X 13

Quarter 3: St. Cecilia 9 – St. Pius X 17

Quarter 4: St. Cecilia 17 – St. Pius X 19 FINAL

No photos available

Camp Howard Mini Campers Learning the Ropes at Camp


Camp Howard completed Family Camp July 3, took the day off to celebrate the Fourth of July and are back at it July 5th, 2023 with Mini campers. Peggy English, Camp Director, Shawna King, Assistant Camp Director, Sean Ryan, Program Director, Karen von Borstel, Property Director along with Sr. Krista von Borstel, Exec. Director, round out the camp leadership for the 70th camping season at Camp Howard.

Mini Campers were escorted to Camp Howard by bus Wednesday morning from Oregon Catholic Press facilities in Portland to begin a mini week of experiencing camp. Activities will include The new, Low Ropes Course, Corcls, Arts & Crafts, swimming pool, slip and slide, archery & BB Guns. The pool and slip and slide are proving to be the big draws during this warm weather. Mini campers stay at camp for a partial week. Regular week long sessions will begin Sunday July 9th.

Watch for daily posts about Camp Howard this summer. – Sr. Krista

Easter is my Favorite Holiday


What is your favorite holiday? Why is it your favorite?

Easter…because Jesus Christ died for our sins, gave His life and rose from the dead after 3 days, gifting us with eternal life.

CYO 8 Boys BXB Championship


2023 CYO 8th Grade Boys City Championship

Home Team: Holy Redeemer

Coaches: Joseph Hagedorn (Head Coach), Geraldo Mena Jr. (Asst), Senora Thirdgill (Asst)

Players: Zahir, Nicholas, Hendrik, Jonah, Yerosan, Jack, Christian, Finn, Vicente, Calvin, Julian, Christian, Arush, Dominic

Mascot: Wildcats

Visiting Team: Valley Catholic

Coaches: Chris Boudreaux (Head Coach, Joel Frank (Asst.)

Players: Jack, Garrett, Zareh, Pavley, Pretham, Henry, Kaiyan, Jack, Brandon

Mascot: The Valiants

Game Highlights:

The first two quarters of the game were very exciting back and forth action with great play from some top talents in the eighth grade from Holy Redeemer and Valley Catholic.  Unfortunately, Holy Redeemer was plagued by playing time issues and did not get all their players their mandatory playing time even after they were reminded by the CYO Basketball Commission at the beginning of the game and each quarter of the game.  Finally, toward the end of the game the team worked to get all their players their required time and at that point, it was too late for strategy.

Two basic rules of CYO are 1. There is a place for everyone, no one is cut.  2. Everyone plays and in volleyball and basketball there are mandatory playing times.  In basketball, each player is required to play for 8 minutes of the game.  This is a full quarter.  It is possible to get 20 players on a team a full quarter.

Congratulations to Valley Catholic for their win in the 2023 CYO 8th grade boys Championship.

Half Time Score: Valley Catholic 23 – Holy Redeemer 21

Quarter 3: Valley Catholic 35 – Holy Redeemer 34

Quarter 4: Valley Catholic 53 – Holy Redeemer 42

CYO 8th Grade Girls BXB play for the Gold


2023 CYO 8th Grade Girls City Championship at Valley Catholic School

Home Team: Valley Catholic

Coaches Zach Bromert (Head Coach), Frank McKeen (AS), Maggie McKeen (AS)

Players: Hannah, Leah, Meghan, Ruby, Avery, Malia, Louisa, Leah, Grace, Stephanie, Natalie

Mascot: The Valiants

Visiting Team: St. Rose

Coaches: Craig Thomas (Head Coach), Joe Healy (AS), Christopher Brennan (AS)

Players: Delaney, Gabriella, Peyton, Fia, Caitlin, Portland, Kate, Isabella, Regina, Bennett

Mascot: The Hawks

Game Highlights:

Basketball Commissioner, Steve Mueller set the stage as he announced the CYO 8th grade Girls Basketball championship beginning with team names.  He made the calls throughout the game giving the kids a sense of true championship and it was very special for all of the players.

Valley Catholic and St. Rose both had an enthusiastic start playing each other toe to toe in the first quarter. Valley Catholic made some fast break points immediately in the top of the second quarter and outscored St. Rose 12 to 2.

In the second half.  In the third quarter the scoring was balanced for both teams. The Valliant’s outdistanced the Hawks in the fourth quarter with a final score of 44 – 27.

Quarter 1: Valley Catholic 11, St. Rose 9

Quarter 2: Valley Catholic 23, St. Rose 13

Quarter 3: Valley Catholic 32, St. Rose 21

Quarter 4: Valley Catholic 44, St. Rose 27