The CYO St. Kilian Stars ninth-grade girls basketball team, which finished third in its eight-team league during the regular season, won its first round playoff game Sunday afternoon by beating St. Raymond's of East Rockaway, 43-39. This was the third year in a row that these two teams had faced each other in the playoffs. St. Raymond's won two years ago with St. Kilian winning last year. This year's game was played at St. Kilian, as the St. Kilian CYO played host to the first round bracket with five games being played that day.

The Stars jumped off to a quick 12-4 lead after the first quarter. St. Raymond's played a very solid second quarter to close the Stars lead at half-time to 22-19. The Stars and St. Raymond's each scored 10 points in the third quarter with St. Kilian maintaining its three-point lead going into the fourth quarter. Team Co-Captain Krista Danielo scored seven of her 11 total points in the third quarter, pacing the Stars attack. The Stars outscored St. Raymond's 11-10 in the fourth quarter which carried them to the victory. St. Kilian had seven of its fourth-quarter points come from the free throw line. Lorraine Quinn scored all five of her points in this final quarter to ensure the outcome.

Lauren Cohen led all the Stars scorers with 14 points. Kate Hogan had six, Jess Patane scored five, and Chris Tinney had three. Meg Fanning played extremely well on defense and on the press with a couple of her shots just rimming out of the basket. Once again, the smaller St. Kilian team out rebounded its opponent on the Stars defensive boards ensuring the victory for the host team.