The Cathedral Green Wave defeated arch-rival St. Aloysius Flashes 52-43 Friday night in a contest that had to be called early. With 42 seconds left in the fourth quarter, the game was stopped because of aggressive fouls called against the Flashes.

Two St. Al players, Victor Segers and Lee Wiles, each were hit with technical fouls, with Wiles receiving two and Segers one after he fouled out.

It was an unusual end to a good ball game in which neither team was able to get a big lead on the other. Cathedral broke a 38-38 tie with a 12-2 run in the fourth quarter to take 50-40 lead.

&uot;I haven’t been involved in a game like before, but it was just a case of them losing their cool,&uot; said Cathedral High head boys basketball coach Terry Moffett. &uot;A lot of basketball is played from the neck up and I think that’s where we won the game. Our kids did a good job on concentrating on what they needed to do to win the game.&uot;

The win was the first for Moffett in four outings.

Moffett replaced head coach Bill Cameron who passed away from a heart attack in December.

Friday’s game was a battle between two of the best players on each team, St. Al’s Jason Martin-Nez and Cathedral’s Lanoxne Scott.

Martin-Nez led the Flashes with 18 points, hitting two three-pointers, and grabbing six rebounds and two steals.

Scott led the Green Wave with 17 points and 10 rebounds and made two 3-pointers.

The game started with a delay of game technical on St. Al for not coming out in time and Scott sank the free throw to give Cathedral a 1-0 before the opening tip.

The Green Wave looked to be in control as they took a 24-17 halftime lead, and then took a 34-26 lead late in the third quarter.

The Flashes came back with a 12-4 run to tie the game at 38 behind the Martin-Nez and Clay Simmons, who finished with 15 points, five rebounds and 4 blocks.

But the Green Wave took control midway through the fourth quarter behind the rebounding of Scott and the easy baskets of Zac Robinson, who had 10 points.

&uot;I knew we were getting better, but we still have a long way to go,&uot; Moffett said. &uot;But as long as they keep improving, that’s all I can ask from them.&uot;

In the girls contest, the Lady Gre first win en Wave overcame a bad night of shooting to defeat the Lady Flashes 35-33.

&uot;It was a very physical game. A lot of fouls were called early,&uot; said Lady Green Wave head coach Craig Beesley. &uot;Both teams were in foul trouble early and we were able to overcome it.&uot;

Kate Prescott led Cathedral (8-7) with 12 points, with 10 coming in the first half and nine rebounds.

Vee Brice added eight points for the Lady Wave.

Cathedral won despite making only 13 of 44 shots from the field and 9 of 16 free throws.

Betsi McGraw was held to only six points, but the final two points of the game proved to be the difference as she grabbed the rebound and made the game-winning shot with one second left.

&uot;I was pleased with the play of our guards late in the game,&uot; Beesley said. &uot;The last two minutes we ran a spread offense to run the clock out. Each possession we got a free throw or a layup. Betsi made a tremendous rebound and shot as the clock ran out.&uot;

Cathedral will play at Monterey next Tuesday.

The Green Wave plays at St. Aloysius on Feb. 8.