On Saturday Jan. 12, the fifth grade girls put their perfect 12-0 record on the line as they hosted a first round playoff against St. Mary's of East Islip 10-1-1. It was a tough battle for the Lady Lions but they were just too much for the visitors from East Islip as Corpus Christi won 26-16.

Corpus Christi took a big lead as the first quarter came to a close 11-4 but St. Mary's wasn't going to go away easily as they closed the gap going into halftime 12-10.

During the second half, Corpus Christi picked up their intensity, challenged every pass, shot and rebound and outscored their opponents in 14-6. In the second half the Lady Lions put on a defensive clinic jumping into the passing lanes, defending every shot and attacking the loose balls.

The St. Mary's girls had excellent, very quick ball handlers but the Corpus Christi girls were up to the task and played strong team defense. From the start Corpus Christi was getting offense from there usual suspects as well as some huge baskets from some who hadn't been called on for a lot of offense as of yet as seven of 11 girls scored during this epic battle.

The Lions were led by Charlotte Renker (9 points, 15 rebounds), Meaghan Carr Fragiacomo (4 points, 5 assists), Sarah Rudolph (4 points, 5 assists), Juhi Goyal (3 points, 6 rebounds), Corrine Joyce (2 points, 4 rebounds), Kelly Behan (2 points, a huge bucket) and Emily Pusey (2 points, a huge bucket as well). Emily Abrams played some outstanding defense; Rebecca Katinas was her intense self, creating numerous turnovers; Samantha Santomauro played tight defense and made a couple of beautiful passes and Gabriella Jurksas came up with some huge rebounds. Susana Miranda was missed and the girls look forward to her returning for the next game.

This was a total team effort as every girl contributed to the victory. The girls next game is the quarterfinals on Saturday, Jan. 26 at 6 p.m. at Corpus Christi.