Neither the St. Alphonsus/St. John eighth-grade girls nor the seventh grade boys could get their offense on track during the Catholic Youth Organization AA Championships Feb. 8.

The St. Alphonsus/St. John girls basketball team lost the eighth-grade championship to Bellevue’s St. Louise while the boys fell to Bellevue’s Sacred Heart in the seventh-grade championship.

Poor shooting kept the girls from overcoming a flurry of turnovers caused by the St. Louise defense.

“The ball just didn’t go in the basket,” girls coach Tim Tholy said. “[St. Louise] has a karma thing. It happens every time we play these guys.”

The girls trailed 21-13 at halftime and couldn’t capitalize on a big third quarter from Laura Walker. Walker scored all seven of the team’s points in the quarter and added a handful of steals and rebounds and one huge block. But, the girls still trailed 28-20 going into the final quarter.

St. Louise shut St. Alphonsus/St. John out in the fourth and cruised to a 37-20 victory.

Tholy said he is proud of the girls, who finished the season with a 6-3 record.

Things went even worse for the boys team, who were trounced by Sacred Heart 49-15.

The boys, who struggled all game against Sacred Heart’s full-court press, were down only eight at the half. But, they would not score in the second half, allowing Sacred Heart to tally 26 unanswered points.

“I don’t even have the words,” said boys coach Erik Knutson.

He said his team got frustrated and lost their game plan while Sacred Heart stuck to theirs.

Logan Blue led St. Alphonsus/St. John with eight points.

The boys still had a great season and an amazing run to the championship, Knutson said. They snuck into the playoffs at 3-2, weren’t supposed to win anything, and ended up making it to the championship, he said.