For most of the first half, underdog Mount Hebron made it a contest by sinking six three-point baskets.
But No. 5 St. Frances pulled ahead near the end of the second quarter and never looked back on the way to an 84-60 victory and the Mount Hebron Holiday Classic championship last night.
Alphonso Jones (21 points) sparked the Panthers (7-1) with three baskets near the end of the second quarter. St. Frances' nine-point run took the Panthers from two points down to seven points up at 36-29.
Mark Karcher, who scored a season-high 29 points, exploded for 12 points in the third quarter when St. Frances turned the game into a runaway.
St. Frances started out in a 1-3-1 zone and left itself vulnerable to baseline jumpers. And Mount Hebron took advantage, hitting three straight three-pointers and going up 9-2.
"We had to switch to a man-for-man defense because they were eating us up in that zone," St. Frances coach William Wells said. "I thought they'd never miss."
No. 16 Mount Hebron (5-3) led 17-12 after one quarter, and Kurtis Jestes (20 points) sank another three-pointer to make it 20-12 to start the second quarter. Jestes made four three-pointers in all.
But St. Frances took advantage of a free-fouling Mount Hebron squad to slowly climb back.
St. Frances sank 20 of 24 free throws for the game, and Karcher, who averages 23 points, was 9-for-10 at the line.
"Karcher came to play after some early fouls," Wells said. "Darryl Dantzler came off the bench and helped out when we got into early foul trouble."
St. Frances' man-to-man defense forced Mount Hebron into 16 turnovers.
"They were quicker than we were," Mount Hebron coach Scott Robinson said. "But in my four years here at Mount Hebron this was our most disappointing effort. If there's no change in our intensity then there will be changes in our lineup. Our goal all season has just been to play hard but this was a total embarrassment."
Mount Hebron's most-heralded player, 6-foot-6 junior center Patrick Ngongba, was almost no factor in the game. He drew his third foul early in the second quarter and sat out until halftime while St. Frances rallied.
St. Frances sank nine of 16 shots in the second quarter with Ngongba not there to provide inside defensive pressure.
Then Ngongba drew his fourth foul in the third quarter and missed several more minutes. He finished with 11 points.