Seton Catholic's girls basketball team didn't win the Division II state championship last year.  It lost a hard-fought final with Maricopa. But Lady Sentinels coach Karen Self had consolation in her pocket. That consolation--  she had essentially her starting five back to try again.

With that kind of experience in tow it was little wonder Seton opened the 2015-2016 season Monday afternoon with a comfortable 65-36 victory over Saguaro in the opening game of the Highland Thanksgiving Tournament at Highland High School.

"Having these girls back is a luxury I've never had," Self said. "The growth they've shown in the offseason has been tremendous. They showed some of that today."

On the floor for Seton Monday were point guard  Liz Holter, twin posts LeeAnne Wirth and Jenn Wirth and guards Sarah Barcello and Kendall Krick. Holter and the Wirths are juniors and Barcello and Krick are sophomores. Seton raced to a 10-0 lead in two minutes and led 25-5 at the end of the first quarter. The Lady Sentinels forced eight turnovers and every shot they made was from eight feet or less   -- most were layups.

Barcello connected for 12 of her game-high 20 points and LeeAnne Wirth totaled seven of her 18. Jenn Wirth scored eight of her 12 points i the second half.

Saguaro entered the opener with some experience back from last year, but nothing close to matching Seton's. Saguaro was further handicapped early with foul trouble that forced 6-foot-3 post sophomore Elle Baker to the bench with three infractions. Seton substituted freely as the first half wore on and improved its lead to 39-12 at hafltime.

"What I've noticed that's helped us is we have more leadership," Self said. "Last year everyone seemed to defer to each other, and it didn't get done. It's there now. Their  basketball IQ has taken off. It's at a different level."

All that doesn;t bode well for the rest of Division II.

To Saguaro's credit, coach Chris Young's team battled hard in the third period and got Baker in the flow of the game, especially on offense. Baker scored all of her team-high 12 points in the third period and Saguaro played Seton nearly evenly in the quarter (22-19 edge to Seton). Still that was enough to force a running clock for the final quarter with Seton leading by 30 (61-31).

Seton advances to play Flowing Wells on Tuesday at 3 p.m. at Highland in the next round of the tournament. Saguaro takes the court for its next game Tuesday at 4:30 at Highland against Dobson, which dropped a 59-33 decision to Valley Vista.