By Don Ketchum

For a basketball team that was out of sync, the girls from Chandler Seton Catholic played pretty well on Thursday night (Jan. 20).

The defending Class 4A Division champion used an 8-0 burst early in the third quarter after host Glendale Cactus at cut the deficit to a point, pulled away to a comfortable lead and earned a 48-39 Class 4A Division II non-region victory.

Seton raised its record to 19-3, Cactus fell to 14-2.

“We have been playing well of late, but tonight, we were out of sync all night and with our decision-making. Hats off to their defense,’’ said Seton coach Karen Self.

Self has had to make some adjustments with her point guards. Senior Morgan Huppenthal was out for most of the early season with a broken ankle. She returned but was out of the lineup again on Thursday night.

That left Anne Marie Holter and Kayla Bustos to share the point duties.

And Self certainly is thankful to have Theresa Wirth in the lineup. The 6-foot senior was everywhere on the floor, working inside, outside, handling the ball and shooting well from mid-range. She scored 23 points.

Wirth looked more like a long-distance runner, running up and down the floor with ease.

“Theresa is incredibly fit,’’ Self said. “She is going to play guard in college (University of Denver) and for us, she offers so much versatility. She is very consistent.’’

Baskets by Haley Hoskins and Monique Smith and a three-point play by Lindsey Abramson cut Seton’s lead from eight points at halftime to just one with 5:26 left in the third quarter.

Susan Spinner and Wirth each scored two buckets to push the lead back to nine, and Cactus could not close the gap again.

Bustos scored 16 points for Seton, including three three-pointers. Abramson led Cactus with 13 points and Smith had 12.