Marty Lewis scored a team-high 13 points, and Elizabeth Smith poured in 12 as Cathedral High School outlasted Brookhaven Academy 54-48 in the MAIS District 4-AAA opener for both squads.

The Lady Green Wave (3-0, 1-0) utilized a strong third quarter in which it held the Lady Cougars scoreless until the period’s final 30 seconds. Cathedral outscored Brookhaven 10-2 in the period. Following the end of the third, Cathedral had erased a 3-point halftime deficit to build a 38-30 advantage.

“The third quarter was absolutely spotless,” Cathedral coach Peter Arnold said. “We played perfectly. They were playing  man, and we used our quickness to get good shots. It was great.”

However, a slew of fourth-quarter fouls and careless turnovers from Cathedral allowed Brookhaven to climb back in late, eventually trimming the deficit to 50-47 with less than a minute to play.

“Either making bad choices on passes or bumbling, stumbling, fumbling, and then we turn it over and to make matters worse, we foul them,” Arnold said. “When you have a double-digit lead, the last thing you want to do is start fouling, stopping the clock and putting them on the free-throw line and letting them get back in the game. They weren’t scoring otherwise, until we started doing that.”

Lewis pitched in an all-around effort as the senior picked up four rebounds to go along with three steals and two assists. Smith grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds while fellow seniors Grayson Bryant and Natalie Fletcher had nine and eight points, respectively.

“Grayson was really good in the third quarter,” Arnold said. “And Natalie handled the basketball the majority of the night. When you have four senior starters, those are the ones that have to carry the bulk for the team.”

Cathedral will attempt to keep its momentum going at 6 p.m. today when it hosts Monterey High School.

“In the end, the goal is to outscore the other team, and we did that,” Arnold said. “The third quarter, I’m very proud of. The rest of the game, as a basketball person, there wasn’t a lot to be happy about. But in the end, we did win the game. That’s good enough for today, and we have to get better tomorrow.”

Brookhaven (boys) 60, 

Cathedral 32

Brookhaven led from start to finish and pulled away from Cathedral in the second half to run away with a 60-32 win in boys basketball action.

“That was really bad, it was a bad game,” Cathedral coach Matthew Hall said. “I got out-coached, we got out-played, they had more hustle than we did, and they just wanted it more tonight.”

The Cougars led at halftime 24-14 and broke it open with an 18-8 third quarter surge.

Cathedral had just four players score points, led by Derrion Batieste’s 16. Senior Connor Mire chipped in with 11 points while also pulling down 10 rebounds and collecting three steals.

“We didn’t have any flow, the whole game,” Hall said. “We refuse to run the offense, refuse to crash the boards — until late. It just wasn’t a good night.”

Brookhaven, meanwhile, proved to be equally effective both inside and out, racking up points on the interior while also draining six 3-pointers.

“I’ve challenged my guys, and I want to see if they come out (today) and play a lot harder (against Monterey),” Hall said.