Tag Basketball

2026 CYO 7th Grade Boys Basketball Championship Crosses State Lines

Sr. Krista von Borstel Leave a comment

2026 CYO 7th Grade Boys City Championship at Valley Catholic School

Sister Krista’s Blog Video Link to Game video: https://youtu.be/3tH_kA6Xa_g

Home Team: St. Joseph (Vancouver)

Coaches: Tyrone Miller, Elizabeth Kuzma, David Kuzma

Players: Christian, Logan, Grant, Reid, Bennett, Tyvin, Jack, Taft

Mascot: Cardinals

Visiting Team: St. Anthony (Tigard)

Coaches: Josh Paloma, Kevin Sailor, Sophia Sailor, David Schoppe

Players: Porter, Henry, Andrew, Nick, Vinny, Andrew, Harrison, Gavin, Rowe, Evan, Kason, Brolin, Colin, Jackson

Mascot: Hawks

Game Highlights:

Quarter 1: 12 – 15 St. Anthony

Quarter 2: 18 – 22 St. Anthony

Quarter 3:  34 – 30 St. Joseph (Vancouver)

Quarter 4:  38 – 51 – St. Anthony FINAL

St. Anthony came out to an early lead and lead by 10 at various points of the first and second half.  St. Joseph began to make a comeback in the second half and lead several times.  The score was tied toward the end of the game when St. Anthony put on the steam and finished the game 51 – 38. A great game to watch and enjoy – two great programs.

God Bless You Caitlin Clark

Sr. Krista von Borstel Leave a comment

With the CYO Basketball Tournament in the rear-view mirror and a much-needed vacation under my belt, I want to circle back and make some BLOG notes about what I observed in the CYO tournament games in the Greater Portland area this year.

The Caitlin Clark Effect is thriving.  Having recently broken the NCAA scoring record for both men and women this season, and for four years’ worth of outstanding college play, Caitlin is the most popular sports figure in America at the present.  Caitlin is inspiring young girls AND boys in the sport of basketball. 

I asked several young CYO players if they had heard of Caitlin Clark, and they all answered with a resounding “yes”.  The number 22 has taken on as much or more popularity than 23 (Michael Jordan’s number).

I am a Caitlin Clark fan as well.  I am pulling for her team to win the National Women’s NCAA Basketball title (now that my alma mater OSU has been eliminated GO BEAV’S).  I have done a deep dive on YOUTUBE watching Caitlin Clark’s games and they are truly amazing.  I have studied her style, the long shots, her ability to penetrate in the paint, her all around game.  She has a remarkable ability to read the floor and know where her teammates are or will be and get the ball to them for scores.  She is truly a generational player.

Our children are emulating her game.  Because I have studied Caitlin’s game so closely, I can see that our kids are watching her and copying her style. I smile to myself and am grateful for a first class, exciting, wholesome, exceedingly talented person for kids to look up to.  God bless you, Caitlin Clark!  

#Caitlin Clark

CYO 6 Girls City BXB a Cat & Dog Fight

Sr. Krista von Borstel Leave a comment

2024 CYO 6th Grade Girls City Championship at Valley Catholic School

Home Team: St. Pius X

Coaches: Chris Philippi, Chris Bloomer

Players: Avery, Chloe, Emma, Emma, Sarah, Sophia, Tatum, Zoe

Mascot: Panthers

Visiting Team: St. Thomas More

Coaches: Jimmy Sharp, Jay McGrain

Players: Alexandra, Caitlin, Izzy, Maren, Mia, Presley, Rose, Shannon, Stella

Mascot: Bulldogs

Game Highlights:

A balanced game through the first quarter into the second half when the Panthers outscored the Bulldogs finishing the half with an 8-point lead.  The Panthers owned the second half with the Bulldogs never giving up.  Trailing by 20, the Bulldogs had tenacity but not the ability to pull out a win today.

Quarter 1:

Quarter 2: St. Pius X 19 – St. Thomas More 11

Quarter 3: St. Pius X 29 – St. Thomas More 19

Quarter 4: St. Pius X 47 – St. Thomas More 27 FINAL

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

Sr. Krista von Borstel Leave a comment

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 3rd Grade Boys City Championship and the Winner is…

Sr. Krista von Borstel Leave a comment

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 8 Boys BXB Championship

Sr. Krista von Borstel Leave a comment

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

Sr. Krista von Borstel Leave a comment

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

CYO 6th Grade Girls BXB teams In it to Win it

Sr. Krista von Borstel Leave a comment

2023 CYO 6th Grade Girls City Championship at Valley Catholic School

Home Team: St. Anthony

Coaches Charlie Keller, Aubrey Turley

Players: Madeline, Josie, Bridget, Brenna, Kayla, Leighton, Presley, Allison

Mascot:  The Hawks

Visiting Team: St. Ignatius

Coaches: Andy Hryclw, Zach Puent, Adam Kelly

Players: Asha, Jade, Ella, Emma, Lucia, Margaret, Maddie, Amelia

Mascot: The Gators

Game Highlights:

First half, Two feisty, great shooting teams very well matched creating a lot of excitement.  Neither team was afraid to shoot three pointers and they sunk them like pros.

In the second half, St. Anthony overpowered St. Ignatius, widening the gap and St. Ignatius could not make it up.  It was a great game with a lot of intensity.

Quarter 1: St. Ignatius 6 – St. Anthony5

Quarter 2: St. Anthony 12 – St. Ignatius 10

Quarter 3: St. Anthony 19 – St. Ignatius 11

Quarter 4: St. Anthony 35 – St. Ignatius 22

CYO 5th Grade Boys Battle for the City Gold

Sr. Krista von Borstel Leave a comment

2023 CYO 5th Grade Boys City Championship at Valley Catholic School

Home Team: St. Pius X

Coaches: J.D. Youngblood Larson (H), Christopher McCollister (AS)

Players: Christopher, Griffin, Easton, Max, Jace, Micah, Nicholas, Jake, Alexander, Jay, Avery

Mascot: Panthers

Visiting Team: St. Clare

Coaches: Steven Lodzinski (H), Michael Humm,(AS) Luke Leahy, (AS)

Players: Oscar, Desmond, River, Keagan, Ritwik, Amos, David, Maddox, Sam, Elliot

Mascot: The Dragons

Game Highlights:

A high scoring game with both teams sinking 3 pointers toward the end of the first half with the score vacillating until St. Pius X drilled the last basket of the half to go ahead by 3.  Amos for St. Clare hit three, three-pointers.

St. Clare broke open in the third quarter behind some three-point shooting including another by Amos to close out the period. St. Clare added 17 points to St. Pius X’s 6.

Both teams performed well in the fourth quarter but St. Clare outscored St. Pius X by one point with thirteen for the quarter.  The game was fun to watch and kept the fans on the edge of their seats!

Quarter 1: St. Clare 17 – St. Pius X 15

Quarter 2: St. Pius X 40 – St. Clare 37

Quarter 3: St. Clare 54 – St. Pius X 46

Quarter 4: St. Clare 67 – St. Pius X 58

CYO 5th grade Girls teams Clash for City Championship

Sr. Krista von Borstel Leave a comment

Home Team: St. Pius X

Coaches Chris Philippi (H), Chris Bloomer (AS)

Players: Zoe, Daniston, Sarah, Emma, Sophia, Rose, Emma, Avery, Jordan

Mascot: Panthers

Visiting Team: Valley Catholic

Coaches: Owen Elkins, (H), Robert Birbeck (AS)

Players: Malia, Addison, Daisy, Aubrey, Keely, Samantha, Marshall, Zoey, Samantha

Mascot: The Valiants

Game Highlights:

A lot of back and forth between both teams, learning to execute plays, and other fundamentals. They generated a lot of excitement for their crowds.

Quarter 1: St. Pius X 7 – Valley Catholic 6

Quarter 2: St. Pius X 10 – Valley Catholic 10

Quarter 3: St. Pius X 18 – Valley Catholic 12

Quarter 4: St. Pius X 24 – Valley Catholic 14 – Final