The Bishop Diego girls basketball team was just honest on Thursday night.
A 16-0 first quarter sent a clear message to visiting Yeshiva that it had no chance in a 56-32 Division V-A opening-round victory for the Cardinals at the Brickhouse.
“One of our big things is to come out strong in the first quarter so that we feel on top of it the rest of the game – we did a good job of doing that today,” said Cardinals senior Heather Aijian.
Jennifer Jimenez, Dalise Spence and Janelle Kohler got ’em going with four points each in the first eight minutes.
Bishop head coach Jeff Burich threw on the press in the first half to slow down the Panthers and he was rewarded with 19 steals in the game – five from Courtney Houston alone.
Bishop Diego tacked on another nine points to its lead in the second quarter to go into halftime with a commanding 34-9 lead.
Kohler took control in the third, single handidly scoring 10 of the Cardinals’ 12 points. The junior post player totaled a double-double for the game, tallying 14 points, 14 rebounds and three steals.
“I saw the score getting a little bit closer so I knew I had to get my layups in and my free throws in, really try to score more,” recalled Kohler.
The Cardinals were 17-for-22 from the free throw line, a season best according to Burich and something he would like to see continue if the seventh-seeded Cardinals are to make a deep run in the playoffs.
“We’re ready to go as far as we can,” proclaimed Aijian. “We’re still really into practices, we haven’t given up, we still have all the heart. We want to make it far and we think we have a good shot at it.”
The Cardinals play in the second round on Saturday.
BISHOP DIEGO 56, YESHIVA 32
YESHIVA – Barnes 6, Loboda 7, Agatstein 2, Guttlieb 2, Fishbine 6, Levine 1, Kritenberg 8. Totals – 7, 9-10, 32.
BISHOP DIEGO – Valencia 3, Jimenez 7, Stimson 8, Spence 6, Kohler 14, Aijian 8, Houston 2, Perez 4, Breuer 4. Totals – 15, 17-22, 56.
Yeshiva 0 9 9 14 – 32
Bishop Diego 16 18 12 10 – 56
3-Pointers – Y 2 (Kritenberg 2), BD 3 (Aijian 2, Jimenez). Total Fouls – Y16, BD 18.
