The Lady Gaels had players who were sick with the flu and mono and also there were others who had basketball related injuries.

In addition St. Mary’s had hit its limit in games and head coach Kerry Dressel could not get another high school team to scrimmage so the Lady Gaels had only practiced for 10 days before Friday night’s game against Holy Family.

"We were either going to come out and fall apart or we were going to play well," said Dressel. "You always want to play and we did our best to get a scrimmage."

For Dressel and St. Mary’s it was the latter as the Gaels came out like gangbusters with its full-court press that the Falcons could not handle and St. Mary’s would take advantage of it.

St. Mary’s won 74-50 and it was not that close as the Gaels brought in the reserves for most of the second half. The victory also gave St. Mary’s a 23-3 record.

The win moves the third-seeded St. Mary’s into the semi-finals of the Non-Public North B where they will travel to second-seeded Marist in Bayonne on Tuesday night (after press deadline). If the Lady Gaels win over Marist, they would head to the state sectional final on Thursday at 6 p.m. at Belleville High School.

The Gaels are looking to win the first girls basketball state title in the history of the school. The last basketball state championship came in 1946, won by the boys team.

At one point in the game, the Gaels were ahead 61-21 with three minutes in the third quarter.

But there was no more of a hotter St. Mary’s player than junior Afreyea Tolbert who scored 23 points in the first half and 27 in the game. Tolbert credited the hot stretch to a little work with her father, Harun. "Me and my dad worked in the gym on my shot and moving to the basket," said Tolbert who added that she does not recall having such a big first half as in Friday.

And Dressel gave credit to Tolbert for her play. "She played a great game," said Dressel.

After Tolbert both Shanice Hawkins and Martina Ellerbe scored in double figures with 13 and 11 points respectively. Overall, eight different Gaels scored for the night.

In addition to being the team’s first playoff game, it was also senior night as the St. Mary’s family said good-bye to its seniors in Lauren Zdanowicz, Grace Talaia and Stephanie Spanarkel.

Last season, the Gaels were young an inexperienced and were knocked out in the first round of the state tournament. While the young Gaels, who were mainly freshmen last season, they have taken the experience of playing together and are working it.

Tolbert credits working together and the team’s point guard Hawkins. "We have played better as a team and you have to give credit to our point guard," said Tolbert. "She knows how to run the plays and dish out the ball."