CYO basketball headed for championships this weekend

MILTON -- Teams throughout the archdiocese secured berths in the Sunday finals of the 2012 Eastern Mass Catholic Youth Organization Basketball Tournament, last week at Milton High School, with one championship already wrapped up.

Gate of Heaven girls defeated St. Mary Franklin, 41-33, on Saturday March 10 at Norwood Civic Center to take home the Senior CYO Championship.

Gate of Heaven senior boys edged out St. Catherine of Norwood, 56-55, and secured the championship shot against St. Joseph of Needham, who won 54-43 over St. Mary of Franklin in semifinals. The teams take to the hardwood to decide a champion at 6:30 p.m. Saturday night.

Sacred Heart of North Quincy junior boys will face St. Joseph of Needham on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. at MHS to decide a champion.

Grammar school teams also advanced through the brackets to secure spots in championship play Sunday.

In the 7th and 8th grade age group, teams reached the finals with a few close games and some dominant wins. The boys of St. Agnes in Arlington took their spot in the finals with a 54-47 win over the boys of St. John in Peabody. With a 59-53 win over the boys of Our Lady of the Assumption in Lynnfield, the boys of Trinity Catholic in Brockton earned a spot in the championship Sunday.

The girls of St. John in Peabody also advanced to the finals for that age group, with a 44-20 win over the girls of Holy Family in Rockland. The girls of Blessed Sacrament in Walpole defeated the girls of St. Joseph in Medford, 54-31, to secure a spot in the championship tilt.

Girls championships begin at 3:30 p.m. followed by the boys at 5 p.m. at MHS on Saturday.

The 5th and 6th grade girls of St. Paul in Hingham defeated Blessed Sacrament of Walpole, 21-17, and advanced to the finals to face the girls of St. Raphael in Medford, who took their spot in the finals with an 18-14 win over the girls of St. Patrick in Stoneham.

The boys of St. Raphael also advanced to the finals for the same age group, with a 21-17 win over St. Francis Xavier.

Girls championships begin at 12:30 p.m. followed by the boys at 2 p.m. at Milton High on Saturday.

The parish bracket teams sorted out and determined which teams will play in the finals Saturday and Sunday.

In the 7th and 8th grade age group, the girls of St. Adelaide of Peabody overcame St. Anne of Peabody to face St. John of Winthrop at 3:30 p.m. at Milton High Saturday.

The boys of St. Agatha of Milton earned their shot at the title with a 64-44 win over Sacred Heart of Roslindale. They face St. Raphael of Medford boys at 5 p.m. after the girls finish playing.

In the 5th and 6th grade age group, boys from St. Paul of Hingham and St. Raphael of Medford won their semifinal tilts to face off at 2 p.m. at Milton High.

Before that the girls from Our Lady of the Assumption of Lynnfield and St. Denis of Westwood meet at 12:30 p.m. to settle their championship tilt.

Editor's note: See complete schedules and brackets for times and scores at www.one4boston.org. Not all scores were available at press time.