The CYO Boys Basketball Championships were held at Providence High School in Burbank on March 6, featuring teams from across the Archdiocese of Los Angeles demonstrating the depth of talent from schools throughout the CYO.
As anticipated, both the third place and championship games were exciting and fun to watch and had packed stands of enthusiastic supporters.
In the championship game, the Our Lady of Fatima (Artesia), Southland Conference champions played St. Anne Mission (Santa Monica), the tournament’s surprise team that finished third in the WAC Conference. Both schools had impressive runs up through the playoffs to earn spots on the 2016 championship game.
The contest got off to a fast start, as both schools demonstrated their stable of talented and athletic players. Our Lady of Fatima took the lead with a combination of speed and solid ball control. St. Anne had some challenges getting the ball to drop and Our Lady of Fatima held the lead heading into halftime.
In the second half Our Lady of Fatima was able to build upon their lead despite furious activity by St. Anne Mission. Our Lady of Fatima maintained control of the ball while their defense continued to pose difficulties for St. Anne, paving the way for Our Lady of Fatima to win the CYO championship.
In the third place game, Holy Angels (Arcadia) had a rematch against Foothill Conference rival St. Philip the Apostle (Pasadena).
Holy Angels got the better of St. Philip in their first meeting as the teams finished first and second in league respectively. The playoffs were a whole new ball game however and St. Philip came out fast and aggressive to take control early and held off Holy Angels to take the third place game.
CYO introduced an Invitational Bracket for the first time to allow for more schools to participate in post-season play. The championship game featured St. John Chrysostom (Inglewood) versus St. Lawrence Martyr (Redondo Beach).
Both teams battled to reach Championship Sunday and put on a competitive display of basketball. The boys fought until the bitter end with St. John getting the last basket to win the Invitational final.
“Championship Sunday was a great event to feature six teams that showed great sportsmanship, determination and athleticism,” said CYO director James McGoldrick. “It was fun to watch with the boys giving it their all as their fans cheered them on.”
