After a sloppy first half filled with turnovers and shooting as cold as the outside air, Cathedral stepped up in the fourth quarter to finish off Salem 46-40 at home Tuesday night.

The game-changing moment occurred on the Green Wave’s first possession of the fourth quarter. With Cathedral trailing by two to start the quarter, Keylan Hinson knocked down a big three pointer to put the Green Wave up by one. From there the Green Wave went to a man-to-man defense that only allowed four fourth-quarter points from the Wildcats. Cathedral scored 12 points of their own in the fourth to solidify their victory.

Cathedral head coach Peter Arnold said Hinson’s three pointer was pivotal as well as the key play of the game for the Green Wave.

Up to that point, the game was a close but sloppy battle. Cathedral jumped ahead early in the first quarter by holding the Wildcats scoreless in the first four minutes of the first quarter. By the end of the period, the Green Wave led 12-7.

In the second quarter, turnovers by Cathedral put Salem right back in the mix. Full court pressure by Salem caused many Green Wave miscues, but none-the-less the Green Wave clung to 23-17 half time lead.

The Wildcats got some momentum going at the start of the third quarter as Chuck Ellzey hit a bucket three minutes into the third quarter to give the Wildcats their first lead of the game. Their lead was short lived, as Andy Lucas hit two big free throws to reclaim the Green Wave lead. But before the quarter came to a close, Salem led 36-34 as cold shooting plagued Cathedral.

Unfortunately for the Wildcats, the momentum did not carry over into the fourth quarter, and Hinson made sure of it from the start. His big shot coupled with tough defense secured the 46-40 victory.

“It was probably the ugliest, sloppiest game we have played in a while, but it is still a win and we will take it,” Arnold said.

One thing Arnold said the Green Wave must work on is being more aggressive on the defensive boards.

“We have also got to take better care of the ball. We were sloppy and turned it over too many times.”