monterey — The Monterey High School girls’ basketball team used patience and strong defense to hold Cathedral School scoreless in the final three minutes Thursday night.

The Lady Wolves and Lady Green Wave were tied at 29 with three to go, but Monterey forced a few Cathedral turnovers and netted two key baskets to slip by with a 33-29 victory.

“We were fortunate enough to pull that one out,” Monterey head coach Cary Shively said. “Cathedral did a really good job the whole ball game. We were very

patient and got the shots we wanted at the end.”

Cathedral managed just three points in the final period, while Monterey scored six, including four from leading scorer Kristen Russell. Russell finished the game with 10 points.

Both teams exchanged baskets after Monterey took an 8-4 lead after one quarter of play.

Cathedral head coach Randy Smith said he was not disappointed in the way his team played in the loss.

“We had tremendous effort,” he said. “We are playing better together.”

Monterey’s full-court press caused Cathedral trouble at times, but Smith said he was glad that his team is improving its press break.

“We broke the press a lot,” he said. “Our girls are just really trying to get that fifth win.”

Cathedral’s Sarah Beth Willard led all scorers with 12 points.

“She played well,” Smith said. “She’s playing smarter, and it seems that when she plays well, we all play well.”

Shively credited his senior leaders for stepping up and leading the Lady Wolves to a win in the final minutes, and he said it was good to get a win in a game they needed to play to get back in shape.

“It’s big to get our conditioning back,” he said. “They’ve been off all week.”

The win improved Monterey to 13-3 on the season, and it will face LaSalle High School Thursday at home. Cathedral (4-10) will play Adams County Christian School Jan. 4.

Monterey boys 57, Cathedral 51

Yankie Duncan had 17 points, and Hayden Cassels added 16 to lead Monterey to a 7-1 victory over Cathedral School Thursday night.

The Wolves jumped out to a 21-10 lead after one quarter and hung on to send the Green Wave home with their eighth loss of the season.

Sam Fury led Cathedral with 17 points and 12 rebounds in the contest. Jardarius Anderson had eight points and eight assists, and James Coley chipped in with eight points and 14 rebounds.

The loss dropped Cathedral to 6-8 on the season, and the Green Wave will look to rebound Jan. 4 when they host Adams County Christian School.

Monterey improved to 14-4 and will host LaSalle High School Thursday.