On February 22nd, 2023, the Monsignor McClancy Freshman team took on Xavier in their semi-finals matchup! The boys had a slow start as they led 16-14 after the first quarter with great defense coming from both sides. They took control to begin the 2nd quarter before Xavier went on a 7-0 run to end the first half to tie the game. Caleb Ourigou anchored the team in the first half as he had 6 points and 3 blocks. The score remained close in the 3rd quarter as Xavier took a 46-45 lead heading into the 4th. The teams traded baskets throughout the 4th until Kujo Radoncic gave the Crusaders a 1 point lead with 26.4 seconds left. Xavier responded with a deep 3 pointer to go up 64-63 with 10.6 left. After this, Joel Barnaby gave McClancy a 1 point lead with 3 seconds left with a fadeaway jumper! The Crusaders held on after 2 turnovers from Xavier to advance to the finals with a 65-64 win! Joel ended up with 16 points in the contest while Caleb finished with 16 points and 4 blocks. Kujo Radoncic (13 points), Justin Williams (12 points), and David Rodriguez (8 points) also played big parts in the victory. Overall, it was a very thrilling and exciting game to watch as we can’t wait to see the Freshmen in the championship on February 25th!