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Pick a category, and Prep dominated it here Saturday. The Classics (21-5 overall) out-rebounded the Crusaders 29-19. They forced Catholic into 12 first-half turnovers, when Prep built a commanding 25-6 lead.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The most startling number: Catholic scored zero points in the second quarter, when anything that could go wrong, seemingly did for the Crusaders.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Catholic\u2019s Charlotte Albertini swished a baseline jumper to cut Prep\u2019s lead to 11-6 with 1:06 to go in the first quarter. The Crusaders didn\u2019t score again until Mia Bonafede\u2019s top-of-the-key 3-pointer with 6:52 to go in the third quarter.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That\u2019s 10:14 without a point. Prep\u2019s lead ballooned from 11-6 to 27-6 over that clip, and the Classics closed the first half on a 14-0 blitz to seize control for good.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It didn\u2019t help matters much when Catholic\u2019s leading scorer \u2014 and Section 3 MVP \u2014 Nevaeh Kennedy hit the deck hard in the second quarter. She didn\u2019t return; Kennedy spent the entire second half on the bench with an ice pack on the top of her head.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Another Catholic starter, low-post vet Morgan Gaylord, didn\u2019t play because she\u2019s in concussion protocol.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was that kind of a day for the Crusaders.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bonafede capped her outstanding freshman season with 11 points for Catholic \u2014 nine in the third quarter, when the Crusaders overcame nine turnovers to finally get their offense chugging.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But Prep, the District 2 champ, never trailed and was never really threatened.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Classics\u2019 heroes: Eva Kaszuba scored 16 points and pulled down seven rebounds \u2014 six on the offensive glass, which kept possessions alive. And Chloe Manera, a nimble 6-foot-1 post with up-and-under and fadeaway moves aplenty, scored 15 points and gathered nine boards.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Prep gets another blue-blood program, District 11 champ Allentown Central Catholic, in the second round on Wednesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Crusaders climbed back on the bus and headed home, wondering about what could have been.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll go back and look at it and see what we did differently and why some things didn\u2019t work,\u201d Detz said. \u201cWe were young and we had injuries. It\u2019s tough to get 11 girls in regularly and get your rotation. We were never on that eight-man rotation. But we\u2019ll rebound, and we have a lot coming back.\u201d<\/p>\n
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