Pius X faced off against Elkhorn in a freshman boys basketball game on December 10.

The game opened with offensive struggles from Pius’ side, with them missing many shots and being unable to keep up with Elkhorn’s scoring.

“The game felt rushed, and like we didn’t have control,” freshman Jackson Makovicka said.

This lack of control led to Pius X trailing 23-6 after the first quarter. Their situation didn’t improve much by halftime, with them only scoring an additional four points, making it 41-10.

Something appeared to wake up in Pius X, as following halftime, they immediately scored eight points while shutting Elkhorn out. The quarter ended with both teams scoring another 10 points, making the score 51-28 as they entered the final quarter.

“We used our momentum as motivation and used it to help us stay in the game,” said freshman Caleb Davis, who broke his foot last week during practice.

The uphill push for victory continued into the fourth quarter, with Pius X scoring 17 and holding Elkhorn to 7, but it was not enough, making the final score 58-45. Although, they did win the second half, with its score being 35-17.

“The game had a lot of ups and downs,” Davis said. “One team would go on a run and score a lot of unanswered points, then the other team would go on a run.”