CJB's Braid-y Bunch Wins 30-team McAuley Tournament

CHICAGO – For team bonding, the Cardinal Joseph Bernardin 8th grade girls basketball players had their hair braided for the final weekend of the 30-team Mother McAuley Tournament.

It wasn’t just their hair that experienced plenty of twists and turns.

The Cardinals won the tournament going 5-0 and pulled off a wild 20-15 championship victory over Christ the King on Oct. 15, one day after winning a 34-33 overtime game over Mother Teresa Catholic Academy.

“I am very proud of the way we played in those two games,” CJB coach Jack Hallberg said. “When I look at the video from those games, I’m so happy to see that every player did something to help win those games whether it was scoring, rebounding or playing great defense.”

There were four ties and two lead changes in the second half of the semifinals against MTCA before the Cardinals were able to pull off the win in OT. The Cardinals trailed 13-12 heading into the fourth quarter in the defensive title game battle against Christ the King and reeled off eight straight points in the fourth to help seal that victory.

CJB players are Orland Park’s Claire Paciga, Grace Rost, Caitlin Shanahan, Monica Tadros and Lauren Vorva and Tinley Park’s Molly Hallberg and Morgan VanderWey. Jack Hallberg and John Rost are the coaches.

The Cardinals finished in second place in the McAuley tournament in 2010 when they were 6th graders.