The John Bapst Crusaders used smothering defense while getting offensive contributions from a lot of players to beat the Hermon Hawks 53-41.

The victory puts the Crusaders at 8-0 and into the #1 spot in Class B North. The Hawks take their first loss and are 8-1.

That John Bapst defense forced Hermon into 18 turnovers and held the Hawks to just 27 points through three quarters of play.

On offense, Abbey Legasse scored 12 points and Crystal Bell added 11. Eight different players scored for Bapst.

Lauren Plissey led Hermon with 17.

NOTE; Saturday's Oceanside vs Hermon doubleheader has been moved to Friday night because expected poor weather for travel on Saturday. The Hermon girls play at 6:15pm Friday and the boys game is set for 7:45pm.

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