8th Grade Hoops: Notre Dame, St. Jane's Going to Diocesan 'Ship

Notre Dame 8th grade basketball team

St. Jane's (Easton)  and Notre Dame (Bethlehem) will compete in the Diocesan championships next Saturday after two weeks of play-off games. These teams edged out St. Anne's and Our Lady of Perpetual Help (both Bethlehem) in very close contests.

My grandson plays for Notre Dame. But instead of my usual bragging about him, I want to mention some of the others. Grant Hershman, grandson of Team Accountant Lou, was vicious on defense all season. His long reach made it impossible for players to get around him. But the biggest surprise is Caden Giordano, a 7th grader who is playing up. he gets his athletic ability from his mother, a track star whose records still stand. He gets his good looks from ... his mother, too.

In high school, it's no big deal to play up. But in grade school, it's tough to think you might be as good or better than another person who is a whole year older.

We were lucky to have him under the boards, especially on Saturday. He made the difference in  a very close game against OLPH.

In Sunday's game, St. Jane's nipped Notre Dame by one point, scoring with just 2.6 seconds left on the clock. It was a thrilling game, one in which Notre Dame was behind, sometimes by as much as nine points. The boys, including Matt Horvath, Danny Rojas, Danny Long, Jordan and "Who Dat" Lambert, simultaneously exploded in the 4th, wiping out the deficit and slowly climbing into the lead with 2:00 left in the game. One point was not enough, and the lead went back and forth until the game was tied. With no time to come back, St Jane's pulled it off.

I don't know their boys, but they have every right to be proud of their accomplishment. The boys who played were good athletes. More importantly, they're a nice group of kids. One of them even held the door open for an old fart on his way into the building.

From the picture above, you might get the impression that Notre Dame was unhappy about their loss. And they were. But they're going on to the Diocesan championship anyway, and I reasoned this loss will teach them not to take anyone lightly. .

St. Jane's won the game because they were the better team, and they behaved like winners.