-Michael Adelman

It was a dominating performance in Sunday's 8th-grade girl's championship from St. Raphael as they defeated Our Lady of Perpetual Help by a final score of 36-23. After a very competitive first quarter, which ended 9-8, the Raiders turned up their defense and took advantage of turnovers to hold the Saints to just 2 points in the second quarter. St. Raphael took a 20-10 lead into halftime.

After the intermission, both teams struggled to find their offensive rhythm as it took over 3 minutes for either team to find a basket. St. Raphael was finally able to get some momentum going and used it to outscore OLPH 10-4 in the third quarter. The Saints showed signs of life in the final period, going on a 7-2 run to begin the quarter and holding the Raiders to zero points in the first five minutes, but the task to erase their 16 point deficit was just too much, as St. Raphael was able to regain momentum and earn the win to claim the Gesu Morrissey Classic Championship for the second straight year.

Brynn Roggenburk led the Raiders with 12 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 assists, while Cara Heisterkamp added 10 points. Roggenburk and teammate, Sophie Georgiadis represented St. Raphael on the GMC All-Tournament Team after a weekend of stellar play. St. Francis' Katie Pulleti, Holy Trinity's Sarh Karabatsos, and Our Lady of Perpetual Hope's Amor Maker also earned spots on the All-Tournament Team.