Still undefeated, with no team having come within single digits of beating them, the Christian Brothers Academy girls basketball team took its undefeated mark and no. 2 state Class A ranking to the elite Lourdes Tournament in Poughkeepsie.
But it would not leave Poughkeepsie undefeated.
In Sunday’s finals, the Brothers ran into Catholic Central (Albany) and took its first loss of the season, falling to the Crusaders 56-49.
At first, the game followed the tempo CBA wanted, even though Catholic Central raced to a 21-15 lead.
When things slowed down, though, the Brothers could not make the run it needed, watching as the Crusaders maintained its lead the rest of the way.
Sarah Paulus led CBA with 17 points, with Amanda Billy adding 16 points. Kayla Stroman got nine points. For Catholic Central, Lauren McCormick had 18 points and Stephanie McBride added 12 points to move past 1,000 points for her career.
A day earlier, the Brothers went after the hosts and caught them, CBA earning a 62-45 victory over Lourdes.
Outscoring Lourdes in each quarter of play, CBA picked up the tempo and built a 33-23 lead by halftime, then kept pulling further ahead.
What’s more, the team showed a lot of scoring depth. Billy led with 17 points, while Paulus (11 points) and Stroman (10 points) also hit double figures. Leanne Ockenden had nine points, with Nikki Works adding seven points and Mary McGowan earning six points.
As a tune-up, the Brothers went to Chittenango last Thursday night and cruised all the way through a 67-24 rout of the Bears.
Titi Jimenez saw her longest stint of the season and took full advantage of it, pouring in 15 points. Billy had 16 points, while Paulus got nine points and Ockenden earned eight points.
CBA plays Homer on Friday, then meets Phoenix Saturday night as part of the Coaches vs. Cancer Challenge at Onondaga Community College.
