The eighth grade CYO St. Kilian Stars avenged their opening loss to Cure of Ars, from Merrick, last Thursday night in a very high scoring game by winning 49-46 running their record to 2 wins and 1 loss. From the opening tip-off to the final whistle, it was an incredibly exciting game.

In the final analysis, it was the superior St. Kilian press that earned the victory for the Stars. The Merrick girls had lots of problems handling the press when it was on and they turned the ball over repeatedly. The St. Kilian girls converted many of those turnovers into points.

Guard Katie Hogan led the stars attack with 14 points, many of those attributed to the teams press. Co-captain Chris Tinney again played a complete game with 10 points and countless rebounds. Lauren Cohen had eight points, Lisa Buono had seven, Jessica Patane had six, and co-captain Krista Daniello and Meg Fanning each had two points.

Cure of Ars took the early lead, going up 4-0. The Stars battled back and outplayed the Merrick girls in the second half of the first quarter tying the game at 10 going into the second quarter.

In the second quarter, the Stars continued their dominance, outscoring their opponent 14 to 8. Katie Hogan scored six of her point in this quarter. In the third quarter, both teams scored 14 points, with the dominant tall and strong Cure of Ars center scoring all her teams points in this quarter.

St. Kilian's took their 6 point lead into the fourth quarter and held off a furious Cure of Ars charge to win by three. The Cure of Ars center, Vasquez, who had 19 points in their opening victory over the Stars, had an incredible 36 points in this loss. Unfortunately for Cure of Ars, the Stars played and won as a balanced team instead of a one girl team. Diana Beltrani made major contributions with her usual strong rebounding. Jess Cohen played great defense again, helping stop the Cure of Ars transition game when they were able to beat the press.