Both Varsity basketball teams for St. Philip are halfway down the path to winning their respective tournaments (at 10:00 Sunday). Girls Varsity advanced to the semifinals of the Master of the Roundball Tournament at Cantwell-Sacred Heart, while Boys Varsity is one win away from the finals in their tournament at St. Francis. Girls Varsity finished in third place in this tournament last year, and Boys Varsity won the tournament.

Neither team struggled much in their first two games of their respective tournaments. Girls Varsity won their first two games by comfortable margins, with the second victory over Mission School by about 30 points. Boys Varsity won their first game over Grandview by a 38-8 margin, a game in which the Falcons totally controlled the first half and relaxed in the second half. They faced a tougher opponent in St. Robert Bellarmine in the second game. The Falcons pulled away early, but were only up by 15 with the score 31-16 at halftime. Early in the second half, they extended that lead, but the Guards found their shooting stoke and made a few three-point shots to pull within ten at one point. Despite the run by St. Bellarmine,  the Falcons were able to put the game away soon after the game was tightened.

The Varsity Girls won their games on Tuesday (1/13) and Thursday (1/15). On Tuesday, they blew out St. Luke in an away game,  40-4. Their Thursday game was a thriller against St. Therese. The game, at Holy Angel Hall, was a close game that went into double overtime. The Falcons demonstrated great resiliency and won 33-31.

On Monday (1/12), Varsity Boys opened a 15-0 lead and rode that to a 54-21 victory over Assumption at the Assumption gym gym. On Wednesday (1/14), the Falcons didn’t pull away immediately away from Holy Angels at home, but still built up a large lead in the first half on their way to a 56-28 victory.