UNDER PRESSURE — Catholic Central’s Mary Rohde looks to make a pass while Madonna’s Rosa Cody and Geena Birkhimer apply pressure on defense during Wednesday’s game inside the Mickey Barber Gymnasium. - Andrew Grimm

Wednesday evening’s meeting between Catholic Central and Madonna’s girls basketball teams was one of those such nights.

Since the last time the Crusaders played, they learned that longtime assistant coach Ed Looman, who had been on the bench just last season, had died.

The late coach who was on the bench for more than a decade was recognized with a moment of silence prior to the game between cross-river Catholic school rivals. Crusader head coach Rocky Bragg honored his late assistant with an emotional speech before he presented Looman’s family with his team-issued coach’s pullover in a touching moment.

“Everything Ed has contributed to this program is part of our foundation, the things he instilled in the girls continue, their attitudes and how they play the game and how they conduct themselves as young ladies, Ed is part of that,” Bragg said. “We’re here to continue to build on what he started and helped build.

Central’s Mary Rohde attempts to get a shot up past Madonna’s Geena Birkhimer. - Andrew Grimm

“We were blessed to have Jess Looman (Ed’s daughter), the previous head coach, and her mother Carol with us. It was a blessing to have them here and be able to make a presentation to them.”

Once the game got going, after getting through the early emotions, the Crusaders were on a mission to honor “Big Ed” and pulled away from the Blue Dons for a 44-18 victory.

“The girls were a little caught up in the moment at the start of the game, a few of them were quite emotional on the bench,” Bragg said. “He was a friend to all of us, the kids loved him. It took them a couple of minutes to collect themselves. Once we got into our rhythm, we played some good basketball and I’m very proud of them.

“It meant a lot to them to get a win for Ed, we talked about it before the game how we were going to play for him.”

After Madonna (2-2) led 5-2 early in the game, Central (3-2) went on a 28-3 run the rest of the first half to take complete control.

Central’s Aurelia Hoover puts a layup past Madonna’s Adalynne Welch. - Andrew Grimm

Shya Garcia came off the bench and netted a game-high 12 points for Central while having three steals, three rebounds and an assist. Mara Delaney also reached double digits with 10 points, two assists and a steal. Mary Rohde tallied six points, five rebounds and three steals while not playing much of the second half. Mary Fink also tallied six points off the bench and Aurelia Hoover had five assists, three rebounds, a block and two steals.

Central, after a disappointing night defensively at Oak Glen on Monday, held Madonna to single digits in all four quarters and forced the Dons into 27 turnovers, racking up 17 steals.

“The defense was a lot better,” Bragg said. “We got off to a good start, we wanted to run and play fast defense, turn opportunities into transition buckets and they did that. They can all feel good about how they played today.”

For the Dons, who were led by seven points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals from Geena Birkhimer, five points from Rylee Birkhimer and three points and 12 rebounds from Adalynne Welch, Central’s momentum was just hard to stop once the more experienced Crusaders got rolling.

“It’s a learning experience for our younger guards trying to learn how to handle the pressure,” Madonna head coach Nick Higgins said. “We’ll get there. Give Rocky and his group a lot of credit, they play very hard and they play good defense. I thought our girls scrapped and played hard, it is just the little things we have to work on.”

Madonna’s Adalynne Welch shoots past Central’s Monica Bolster. - Andrew Grimm

UP NEXT

Madonna: Returns home Saturday to host Heartland Christian.

Central: Travels to Harrison Central on Saturday afternoon.

Central 44, Madonna 18

M 5-3-4-6 — 18

C 16-14-8-6 — 44

MADONNA (2-2): G. Birkhimer 3 0-0 7; Littleton 0 0-0 0; R. Birkhimer 2 0-0 5; Ryan 0 1-2 1; Cody 1 0-2 2; Welch 1 1-2 3; Quattrochi 0 0-0 0; B. Birkhimer 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 7, 2-6; 18.

CENTRAL (3-2): Hoover 2 2-2 6; Dankert 1 0-0 2; Delaney 4 1-2 10; Balabin 1 0-0 2; Rohde 3 0-0 6; Garcia 5 0-0 12; Rigaud 0 0-0 0; Fink 2 1-4 6; Bolster 0 0-0 0; Lathem 0 0-0 0; Brem 0 0-0 0; Wise 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 18, 4-8; 44.

3-POINTERS: Madonna 2 (G. Birkhimer, R. Birkhimer); Central 4 (Garcia 2, Delaney, Fink). ASSISTS: Madonna 3 (G. Birkhimer 2); Central 13 (Hoover 5). REBOUNDS: Madonna 37 (Welch 12); Central 36 (Rohde 5). STEALS: Madonna 8 (G. Birkhimer 2, Quattrochi 2, B. Birkhimer 2); Central 17 (Hoover 3, Rohde 3, Garcia 3). BLOCKS: Madonna 3 (G. Birkhimer 2); Central 1 (Hoover). TURNOVERS: Madonna 26; Central 17.