Max Lupovitz took the mound for Warwick Continental Saturday night with a tournament title on the line. Little did he know it was going to be the best pitching performance of his life.

Lupovitz threw a five-inning no-hitter in the championship game of the George “Steve” Banno Memorial Tournament as Continental beat Warwick American 11-1 for the title. Lupovitz recorded 13 of the 15 outs by strikeout. He walked two and allowed an unearned run in the fifth, but by then, his teammates had given him more than enough run support and had put the 10-run rule into effect.

“I knew this was going to be my last Little League game tonight and I really wanted to do well,” Lupovitz said.

He certainly did.

In addition to the pitching performance, Lupovitz helped his own cause in the first inning. Continental put its first two batters on base, and Lupovitz hit a 2-1 pitch over the right-field fence.

“Our offense had been dead so it felt really good to get it going again,” Lupovitz said. “Everybody did a great job, everyone contributed and everyone got a hit.”

With Lupovitz getting the offense rolling, Continental lit up the scoreboard. The production came not only from big hits, but also from patience. Continental drew eight walks in the game, including six against American starting pitcher Danny Greaves.

Greaves did not give up a single run in his previous tournament start against the same Continental lineup.

“Danny was lights out in the second game against Continental,” American manager Brian MacCarthy said. “He was a little more effective in that game than he was tonight. For whatever reason, he didn’t have it tonight.”

Greaves ended up allowing five runs on three hits in 3.2 innings. He kept the Continental stars off the board after the second inning, but once he left the game, they got things going again. Continental scored six runs in the fifth, three on a home run from Tyler Ekroth that was hit well beyond the left-center field fence. Ekroth’s homer put the 10-run rule into play. American put up one unearned run in the bottom of the fifth, but Lupovitz held on for the win.

“Max pitched a great game,” Continental manager Al Mann said. “His home run set the tone for the game. That put us up early and let us play a little small ball for the rest of the game. I am really happy for them. This is probably the last 12-year-old team that I’ll have and I’ll always remember that they won their last game on a no-hitter.”

Continental’s road to the championship was not an easy one. The team beat Warwick National 13-2 in its first game before losing 3-0 to American and 3-1 to West Side. But the loss to American may have contributed to Continental’s win in the finals, since their lineup had already faced Greaves.

“Greaves gave us a lot of trouble last time so I moved everyone up in the box tonight,” Mann said. “I knew when he was going to throw his curveball and I think that helped us not strike out as much. He made us look foolish the first time when he struck out 12 guys the other night. But he had trouble with his curveball tonight. Last time he was throwing it for strikes but he couldn’t seem to do that tonight.”

Saturday’s match-up was the last game of the season for both teams, who competed in the all-star district tournament earlier this summer. For Lupovitz, it was a special way to end a Little League career.

“I’m going to be able to tell my grandkids about this one,” Lupovitz said.