[12/05/02]History has proven that the Catholic School Tournament has a way of treating the ladies of St. Aloysius better than the men.

With two tournament championships in the past two years, last year’s title following senior Danielle Klaus’ technical-foul free throw in the closing seconds against Cathedral, the Lady Flashes have proven to be dominant when the Catholic schools clash.

The opportunity for a victory couldn’t have come at a better time for the Lady Flashes (0-5), but the one difference in this year’s team and those that earned two gold trophies is experience.

“We’re still learning. We’re young, confidence wise, we’ve taken some beatings that has hurt our confidence some,” Lady Flashes coach Paul Hayden said. “Losing is a disease at times, hopefully we can get a few Ws and the confidence will start growing.”

The 5-foot-11 Caitlin Moak could be the answer.

Her 17 points and 10 rebounds in last year’s second-round game propelled the team to the championship game.

“If we can keep Caitlin out of foul trouble, and if she hits some of her early shots, she’s a very good player,” Hayden said. “She can become one of the better post players in our (division).”

The Flashes (0-5) haven’t been nearly as successful in tournament play and are also looking for their first win of the season.

The good news for the Flashes is that they did earn a third-place finish in last year’s tournament. The win came against Greenville-St. Joe, their first round opponent.

“It’s about bragging rights, more or less, over all the other Catholic schools, and a shiny basketball,” Flashes forward Jason Brown said, nodding toward last year’s girls’ tournament trophy. “But we have to get past Greenville first and then we’ll worry about the championship game.”

Madison-St. Joe’s game against Cathedral will open the tournament at 4 p.m. with the boys game following at 5:30.

The Lady Flashes will play Greenville at 7 p.m. with the boys game following at 8:30. Admission is $4.