Seton Keough used a suffocating first quarter defense and built a 19-2 lead on host Catonsville and the deficit was too large for the no. 15 ranked Comets to overcome as they fell 49-32 in the final game Saturday afternoon of the Merritt Properties Catonsville Cup basketball tournament.
The Gators (4-3) were led in scoring by sophomores Brittani Smith (12 points) and Kaila Jennings (11).
Sophomore Sydney Mitchell added six points and senior Amani Wallace contributed five for the winners.
Catonsville played the Gators to a 30-30 draw after Jen Gast made a three-pointer with 10 seconds left in the first quarter to cut the lead to 19-5.
"They came out and they wanted it more than we did," Catonsville senior Lauren McDonald said.
Seton Keough coach Jody Powell took pride in the way her team has played defense all season.
"Our kids are young, but they are so coachable and they will do whatever you tell them to do," said Powell, whose squad forced several turnovers in the first quarter using a fullcourt zone press. "We didn't get a lot of steals, but we got them to shoot shots they didn't want to take and took them out of what they usually do."
Catonsville (4-2) was led by freshman Jasmine Dickey (eight points), senior Renee Gast (seven), sophomore Jen Gast and freshman Jemelia Barrett (six each).
"You are never as good as you think you are after a big win and you are never as bad as you think you are after a big loss," Catonsville coach Mike Mohler said.
The game was the culmination of four games at the school to benefit the There Goes My Hero foundation, whose goal is to add people to the bone marrow registry to aid those with leukemia.
Members of the foundation were at the school all day swabbing fans to raise awareness for the disease.
The day started with Catonsville's junior varsity girls defeating Seton Keough and the Comet junior varsity boys beating Mount St. Joseph.
The Mount St. Joe boys varsity defeated Catonsville 78-47 in the third game of the day.