The championship atmosphere was electric from both teams as Notre Dame Middle School and St. Adalbert tipped off. St. Adalbert came out firing, scoring the first two points on a smooth layup before immediately knocking down a three-pointer to set the tone. Their aggressive press and early energy showed they were locked in on bringing home the title.
Notre Dame, however, refused to be rattled. They stayed composed, pushed the pace, and hit back-to-back jumpers to keep the game close at 9–4. Both teams played with tremendous hustle, trading baskets, securing tough rebounds, and keeping the crowd fully engaged.
St. Adalbert impressed on the glass, grabbing five straight offensive rebounds and finishing the possession with a strong putback. Notre Dame responded with clean execution, running an inbounds play perfectly for an easy layup to pull within one at 11–10. St. Adalbert answered immediately with an and-one to make it 13–10, keeping the momentum on their side—at least for the moment.
But Notre Dame began to find their stride late in the half. Their ball movement against the press was sharp, leading to free throws that tied the game and eventually put them ahead. A fast-break layup followed by two clutch free throws gave Notre Dame an 18–15 lead with just minutes remaining.
In the final stretch, both teams continued to go back and forth, but Notre Dame delivered a huge three-pointer to extend the lead and cap off their run. Riding that momentum, Notre Dame heads into halftime up 23–15, but with the way both teams are battling, this championship is far from over.
Coming out of halftime, Notre Dame wasted no time, sinking a three-pointer right out of the gate. But St. Adalbert responded immediately with an and-one play, keeping the tension high. Notre Dame quickly took a 28–23 lead and called a timeout, only to see St. Adalbert come back even stronger, drilling a clutch three to make it 28–26. The stage was set for a finish down to the wire.
The energy in the gym was electric as St. Adalbert trailed by six with just under six minutes remaining. They attacked aggressively, cutting the lead to four, but Notre Dame answered with a precise underhand layup on a drive to the hoop. Notre Dame followed that with another strong take to the basket, heading to the free-throw line to extend their advantage.
With 1:30 left, St. Adalbert hit a huge three to bring the game within three at 40–37. Notre Dame countered immediately with a layup, keeping their lead intact. St. Adalbert quickly stole the ball and converted a layup to cut the deficit to just three with 15 seconds remaining—they now needed a three-pointer to tie the game. St. Adalbert drew a foul, and Notre Dame called a timeout, setting up a nail-biting finish with just 3.1 seconds on the clock.
St. Adalbert gets a last-second shot out from the white line, but just misses it, and Notre Dame clinches the win and storms the court, with a fantastic championship game with a score of 42-39.