The girl’s Catholic Youth Organization 14U basketball championship game was contested on Feb. 15 at Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School between St. Thomas More of Washington and St. Jerome’s of Hyattsville. The game was fast-paced and well-played with each team neither asking nor giving any quarter.
The score was tied with 2.29 to play at 24-24 before Sanaa Graham and Brianna Hose took charge and St. Thomas More closed on a 10-2 run to win the game 34-26. Hose contributed two sweeping drives down the lane floating the ball softly in the basket. Graham, the tournament MVP, clinched the game with an old fashioned 3-point play on a follow of a teammate’s missed shot. Hose finished with a game high 16 points and Graham had 12.
Both teams played a trapping, full court defense and the first half was filled with high-speed sprints up and down the floor, but poor shooting and worse free throw shooting resulting in an 8-6 halftime advantage for St. Thomas More.
St. Jerome’s, the winner of five previous CYO championships, played superbly in defeat. Despite a pronounced size disadvantage, they battled evenly on the boards and received outstanding performances from London Fonseca with 7 points and Dariia Trisch with 8 points.
St. Thomas More capped an undefeated season with this game at 10-0 and won the championship in their very first season.
