The matchup between University School and St. Adalbert opened with fireworks on both ends, as each team came out scoring early and often. University struck first and built a quick 14–10 lead thanks to crisp ball movement, steady rebounding, and confident finishing at the rim. St. Adalbert matched that pace with strong passing of their own, finding open teammates and battling on the boards to stay right in it.
University continued to make their presence felt defensively, turning stops into fluid offensive possessions that led to open looks — and they knocked them down. St. Adalbert responded by finding soft spots in the defense and hitting tough shots, keeping things close at 22–15 with three minutes to play in the first half.
In the closing stretch before the break, St. Adalbert made a strong push, stringing together defensive stops and converting them into tough buckets. But University answered right back with big shots of their own, maintaining momentum and taking a 28–19 lead into halftime.
Early in the second half, University’s defense once again made an impact, leading to transition opportunities that extended the lead to 32–21 with 15 minutes to play. Both teams played with tremendous energy, and St. Adalbert capitalized by knocking down key shots and slowly chipping away at the deficit. Their surge forced University to call a timeout as the lead shrank to 32–26 with 11:34 remaining.
Coming out of the huddle, St. Adalbert turned up the pressure with a full-court press that created problems for University. While University managed to break it at times and get a bucket, St. Adalbert’s scoring run continued, eventually tying the game at 34–34 with 6:24 left and prompting a St. Adalbert timeout.
From there, St. Adalbert kept rolling. They hit a series of tough shots — including a momentum-swinging and-1 — and backed it up with strong defensive stands. University made a hard push in the final minutes, refusing to let the game slip away, but St. Adalbert held steady and finished off an impressive second-half surge to secure a 42–38 victory.
Both teams left everything on the court in a fast-paced, competitive matchup, but St. Adalbert’s late-game execution proved to be the difference.