Mount De Sales' large contingent of fans found plenty to cheer about as the 16th-ranked Sailors cruised to a 59-29 victory over host Catonsville to capture the Catonsville Christmas Classic title.
Mount De Sales 6-foot-2 senior center Amy Buck, the tournament's most outstanding player with 49 points, tallied 16 points and nine rebounds against previously unbeaten Catonsville (5-1). With wins over No. 17 Randallstown and the Comets, Mount De Sales improved to 7-3.
"Amy's been playing beautifully," said Mount De Sales coach Bill Held. "We set up a new defense for this tournament and it worked. Catonsville, an outside shooting team, spent half the time trying to shoot the three rather than actually shooting it."
The Sailors relied on stellar defense to shut down the Comets' shot-happy offensive attack (64 shots), limiting Catonsville to seven baskets from the field, including a 16-minute stretch of allowing just one Comets basket. Comets junior forward Shannon Rexrode tallied a team-high 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Buck led a group of nine Sailor players who scored, with Ana Martinez chipping in 14 points and Lisa Banburg nine.
Mount De Sales took a 28-12 lead at intermission thanks to a swarming man-to-man defense that held Catonsville to zero for 13 shooting from the field in the second quarter. The Comets shot just 11 percent from the field for the first half, making just three field goals.
Buck got off to a slow offensive start, missing her first six shots. But the Sailors' go-to player began a 13-point run with five points to close out the first quarter. Catonsville, with just three first-half field goals, went more than 10 minutes before Rexrode ended the Comets' point-drought by making one of two free throws with 2:21 left in the half.
In the consolation game, McDonogh handed 17th-ranked Randallstown its second straight loss with a 45-39 victory.
McDonogh (3-4), led by freshman swing guard Mary Urban's game-high 19 points, never trailed the Rams (6-2).
McDonogh's lack of depth (eight players) began to show in the second half as Randallstown cut into a 14-point lead behind Anika Lee's team-high 14 points.
But the Rams could pull no closer than a 37-37 tie midway through the fourth quarter as McDonogh put together a 8-2 run in the game's final minutes.