The CYO Girls Basketball Championships, held at St. Paul High School in Santa Fe Springs on Feb. 26, was brimming with exciting school matchups.
In the title game, Our Lady of Fatima (Artesia), the Southland Conference Champion and No. 1 seed, met up with Our Lady of the Assumption (Claremont), champions of the Mountain East Conference. The standing room only crowd in the gym was packed with excited fans on both sides, who were in for a thrilling game.
This “Our Lady” matchup got off to a frenzied start as Fatima scored quickly to take an early lead. Assumption would not be put off as the players fought vigorously for possession by an aggressive defense. Fatima was tough on both sides of the court and began to take command of the game heading into halftime.
The second half proved to be a continuation of the first as Fatima continued to maintain possession of the ball and denied Assumption access to the basket. Despite vigorous attempts by Assumption, the ball did not drop into the basket for the challengers and Fatima’s lead continued to grow, which led to their securing the CYO championship.
Playing for third place, defending CYO champion Nativity of Torrance (Southbay Conference Champions) faced the athletic squad from St. Charles Borromeo (North Hollywood), the NAC Conference champions. This contest was competitive until the very end and Nativity had just a bit more in their tank to come out on top and take the third place game.
“[The] CYO playoffs … created an energetic atmosphere with big and enthusiastic crowds for all the teams,” said James McGoldrick, director of CYO. “The girls gave it their all and the fan support was awesome. Congratulations to all the teams for advancing to the CYO playoff finals.”
