By Drezdan Dale
In a tightly contested battle between GESU and St. Francis of Assissi, GESU Margaret Castellenos banked in a 3 to get things rolling for their offense. St. Francis center Megan Palinski responded with a bucket of her own. After a three by GESU's Mary Klug, Palinski came back down the court and drained a long range jumper. After the first quarter, the score was tied up at 7 to 7. Early on in the second quarter, St. Francis opened things up with a 8-0 run. Maylin PetKac for GESU ended the scoring for second quarter with a three. At halftime, St. Francis lead 14-10.
After a few missed shots by both teams early on in the second half, Saint Francis Katy Puletti made a fastbreak layup and was fouled on the play. After missing the ensuing free throw, she grabbed her own rebound and drove to the lane, making another layup, and gave Saint Francis the lead, 18-10. After three quarters, Saint Francis led 22 to 11. To get things started in the fourth quarter GESU Molly Castellanos recorded an outstanding block, leading to a layup by Klug on the other end. Two possessions later, GESU Aaliyah Gundani made a driving layup, closing the St. Francis lead to 22 to 16. With time running down and her team's lead dwindling, Palinski drilled a dagger for St. Francis with a minute left, making the score 25 to 17. After a basket and free throw by GESU, St. Francis was able to shut down a final possession by GESU and win, 25 to 20. After the game, St. Francis's Palinski said, "We tried our best, but we have room for improvment", while Katie Puletti said,"The ultimate goal is to win the tournament, especially since it's our eigth grade year", making it known that the team has their sights set on big accomplishments for the rest of this tournament.