St. Aloysius’ matchup zone defense morphed into a zone of doom for the Natchez Cathedral girls Tuesday night at St. Al.

The Lady Flashes forced 20 turnovers in the first half to turn their Division 7-1A battle with the rival Green Wave into a 26-point halftime cushion. St. Al (11-6, 3-1) went on post the 59-24 rout for first-year coach Kyt Bonner.

&#8220I was very pleased we came ready to play,” said Bonner, a former Warren Central and Mississippi College player. &#8220We had seen Cathedral play some pieces of games and we could’ve slacked off, but instead we were ready to play seriously.”

Cathedral (2-15) had trouble running an offense against St. Al’s 2-3 zone. In the second quarter alone, they had 13 turnovers compared to just four shots from the field.

St. Al had a field day, grabbing steal after steal. Junior guard Elizabeth Mazzanti led the team with seven swipes.

&#8220It’s a matchup zone that we call our amoeba defense, because it can change into a man (defense) at times,” Mazzanti said. &#8220I knew I was getting a lot of steals for this game. I was in the right spot.”

Mazzanti took most of her steals to the basket where she drew fouls. She ended up 7-of-12 from the line to register 11 points to go with five assists.

Senior Sarah Kerut had 21 points, six steals and four rebounds to lead St. Al, which built a 32-6 halftime lead. The Lady Flashes were up 44-8 early in the third quarter when Kerut and Mazzanti checked out and the reserves finished up.

&#8220I was glad to get an opportunity to play some girls who don’t get to play much,” Bonner said. &#8220Ever since Kaitlyn (Ellis) broke her nose against Wesson, we’ve only been six or seven deep.”

Bonner’s bench played well, extending the lead to 40 points after Rachel Thomas made four straight free throws. She ended with six points while Sarah Franco had seven points, five rebounds and five assists and Carlye Smith dropped in a pair of 3-pointers.

Brandi McGraw led Cathedral with six points.

(B) St. Al 67, Cathedral 42

The Flashes used hot perimeter shooting in the first half and good defense in the second to pick up an important Division 7-1A win at home over the Green Wave.

St. Al (10-6, 3-1) got 20 points from Chris Johnson who hit four, 3-pointers in the game’s first 18 minutes. Chip Donald chipped in 14 points and six assists, while Marsh Willis had 12. Chase Smith was held to nine because of three early fouls.

&#8220Cathedral is a pretty good team and to beat them 25 is a quality win for us,” St. Al coach Penn Majors said. &#8220We just need to find a better way to protect the ball and as much as we shoot free throws, we’re still not doing that well.”

The Flashes were just 16-of-28 from the free throw line. Yet their defense turned a 14-point game after three quarters into a blowout, holding Cathedral (8-10) to just two baskets for over six minutes in the final quarter.

Juan Gray led the Green Wave with 17 points.

(G) WC 65, Clinton 61

Sha’Kayla Caples scored a game-high 23 points and grabbed 17 rebounds to lead Warren Central to an overtime victory over rival Clinton.

Sophomore Karnina Bunch poured in 17 points and dished out eight assists and Brittany Willis scored 14 points and grabbed nine rebounds.

Sasha Goodlett paced Clinton with 19 points and Ashley Daniels scored 16.

Warren Central is scheduled to travel to Greenville on Friday for a Division 3-5A showdown.