Justin took a 9-6 lead after a good first quarter on Tuesday, but struggled to deal with the defensive pressure by St. Mary’s and was unable to muster much offense the rest of the game.

Down 22-17 entering the fourth quarter, St. Mary’s started the final period on an 8-0 run. The Braves never got closer than nine points the rest of the way.

“St. Mary’s deserves a lot of credit for how hard they played,” said coach Andrew Bettencourt. “Skill-wise I think we were better, but they played at a high energy level consistently throughout the game and were able to get cheap baskets, whereas we were unable to capitalize on our opportunities on a night where as a team we just could not shoot from the outside.

“We need to get better at understanding how to play consistently hard and focused for 32 minutes.”

Teal Geyer (14 points, 11 rebounds), Caroline Zaia (six points, eight rebounds) and Jenna Joske (four points, five rebounds) played well for the Braves.

Justin (9-2 overall) will open MCAL play this Saturday at Redwood at 4 p.m.