BOSTON – With a strong case as the top team in the state, top-ranked Cathedral hosted No. 4 Bishop Feehan in another tough test in the early season.

The Shamrocks came out strong defensively and never looked back in a convincing 52-32 victory over the Catholic Central League rival Panthers.

“The girls are really buying into our defensive system,” said Bishop Feehan coach Amy Dolores. “They take a lot of pride in it. We knew that (Cathedral) could be a talented offensive team, so we did our best to kind of keep them at bay.”

Bishop Feehan (6-2) started off allowing just 1-of-18 shooting from the field in the first quarter as Cathedral (7-2) was held scoreless from the field for about an eight minute stretch between the middle of the first quarter to the 5:20 mark of the second.

The Shamrocks were able to push their lead out to 14 during this time as sophomore Mollie Mullen (nine points, 10 rebounds) had seven points in the first half to lead Bishop Feehan to a 25-12 advantage at the half.

The run continued in the second half as junior Madelyn Steel (13 points, six assists) sank three three-pointers to make it a 34-12 contest.

“Those were big shots,” Dolores said about Steel’s start to the third. “We knew going into the third that we could allow (Cathedral) to get back into it or we could extend and the kids got great shots. Maddie (Steel) has hit many big shots in her career and tonight was no different.”

Cathedral closed the quarter on a 9-2 run to cut the deficit to 36-21 after three.

In the fourth, the Panthers got as close as 13, but junior Caroline Adams-Lopez scored 10 of her 12 in the frame to turn it back to a 20-point game.

Senior captain Julia Webster came up with 12 as it was an all-around effort for Bishop Feehan.

“t’s definitely good because we can definitely lean back on each other,” Webster said about being able to rely on her teammates. “We know if someone is having a bad game, someone else will pick it up for us. We all just feed off each other’s energy.”

Cathedral’s lone double-digit scorer was sophomore Keyona Raines with 10.

Overall, the Shamrocks held Cathedral to 11-of-64 from the field with just 2-of-9 shooting from distance.

Next up, Bishop Feehan will host Bishop Fenwick on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. The Panthers will head to Bishop Fenwick on Friday at 6:30 p.m. after snapping their seven-game win streak.