Lady Wave use 3-pointers in easy first-round South State victory, 57-22

Published 12:31 am Tuesday, February 13, 2018

The Cathedral School Lady Green Wave hasn’t had to divert much this season from direct drives and easy layups, but Monday it switched gears completely.

Cathedral advanced to the second round of the MAIS Class AAA South State Tournament at Adams County Christian School with a 57-22 win over Wayne Academy, sinking eight 3-pointers along the way.

“No, that’s not what we say our overall strength is, so when we do that it makes us a much more dangerous team,” Lady Wave coach Peter Arnold said.

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Cathedral’s first six points were scored by a speedy Caroline Kaiser who found her way down the lane, while attempts to feed the long shot to Baylee Graning fell unsuccessful. About midway through the first quarter, Graning got one to fall — and another, and another until she had six 3-pointers at halftime.

The Lady Wave led at the break, 40-11.

“That was huge. I’m not sure how many she shot, but for six to go down in one half, that was a lot, “Arnold said. “She has a pretty unusual shot, so for her it’s a confidence thing. As soon as she sees it go in, she starts believing and we just keep feeding her.”

Graning agreed something just clicked.

“Finally,” she said. “I had a feeling today. It makes me way more confident.”

Graning ended the game with a leading 28 points for Cathedral, while Kaiser added another 18 points, 15 rebounds and six assists.

“The press was working, and I wanted to keep positively moving forward,” Arnold said. “It worked out beautifully. We played really well with a lot of effort.”

The No. 2 District 5 seed Lady Wave (23-8) will next play at 4 p.m. Wednesday against No. 1 District 3 seed Hillcrest Christian. It must win for a trip to next week’s Class AAA State Championship Tournament.

Moving forward, Arnold said he is eager to see how his team will matchup.

“When we play teams we haven’t played before, we usually play pretty well,” he said. “I haven’t seen (Hillcrest) but I know they are very, very good.

“I truly believe if we shoot the ball well, we can beat anybody. It’s not like it’s the best of a three or five-game series. This is a one game thing.”

Graning thinks Cathedral will have momentum on its side, too.

“I don’t think we are worried,” she said. “I think we will play just as well as we did today, and if we do that we will be fine.”