Cathedral Steamrollers Montclair Prep, 65-48

At the time, it did not seem like such a big deal.

The officials incorrectly gave the ball to Cathedral High to start the second half of its Southern Section 1-A Division quarterfinal game against Montclair Prep at La Salle High.

Even though the Phantoms could not take advantage of the mistake, it seemed appropriate, an indication of what was to come. After leading by as many as 10 points in the first half, Montclair Prep came out flat in the second half, was outscored 19-8 in the third quarter, and went on to lose, 65-48, Saturday night.

“It’s kind of like we just went downhill after that,” Mounties co-Coach Bob Webb said.

Cathedral went into halftime with a two-point advantage, then scored 19 of the first 26 points of the second half. Ernie Quintero made a layup with 29 seconds remaining in the third quarter to give the Phantoms a 49-34 lead.

“They’re a real scrappy team and we got tired,” Montclair co-Coach Howard Abrams said. “We don’t blame the officials, but they certainly didn’t help out there.”

Junior guard Craig Handschu led the Mounties with 18 points and senior forward Duane Johnson added 16. Montclair Prep (17-7) was unable to take advantage of center David Sanger’s height. The 6-8 senior, who will attend Amherst University next fall, was held to eight points, all in the first half. He grabbed 13 rebounds and blocked 4 shots before fouling out with 3:41 left.

“Look at the job Ice Williams did on Sanger inside,” Cathedral Coach Michael Miller said.

Guard Javier Montenegro led Cathedral (21-6) with 21 points, guard Louis Fuentes added 14 and Williams had 13.

Cathedral advanced to Tuesday’s semifinal round for the first time since 1978--and will play Beaumont.