Solid defense continues to be St. Theresa’s catalyst to winning middle school basketball games. St. Theresa trounced North Tahoe 36-16 in an boys’ eighth-grade game on Thursday to improve its record to 8-3.

“We have four tough, big men, and we dare them to come inside,” said St. Theresa coach Joby Cefalu, who utilizes his team’s size with a 2-3 zone defense.

Kris Hurwitz scored a team-high 14 points, and John Cefalu added 10 for the Eagles.

The Eagles completed a season sweep of Incline on Tuesday, winning 34-26. Tyler Daniels scored 12 points and Tyler Sharp seven. Kris DiGrande led the defensive effort against Incline.

St. Theresa will play Tah-Neva League leader Whittell on Tuesday at the Recreation Center. Whittell handed St. Theresa its only league defeat earlier this season.

St. Theresa’s seventh-grade team earned its first win last week by beating Sage Ridge behind strong efforts from Joe Barnett, Jon Barnett, Alejandro Fruitas and Kyle Miller.

STMS pulls off huge comeback win

Facing an 11-point deficit after three quarters at Carson recently, the South Tahoe Middle School boys’ eighth-grade basketball looked beaten. But no one told that to the Timberwolves, who outscored Carson 13-1 in the final quarter for a thrilling 34-33 victory.

Cody Higgins scored five of his 15 points in the period, while Brandon Cramer added five of his nine points along with three steals and four rebounds.

After their comeback win, the Timberwolves beat St. Theresa 31-22 as Tommy Scheller provided five rebounds and two blocked shots, and Justin Mckentrick pulled down three boards.

Following a 47-20 defeat to first-place Eagle Valley, STMS rebounded on Tuesday to beat Pau-Wa-Lu 35-24. Cramer had 10 points, Higgins nine and Cale Backinger six.

Hayden Bronken contributed five rebounds, while Higgins handed out three assists.

STMS is 9-4 overall, including 5-3 in the Tah-Neva League. The Timberwolves will play in a tournament this weekend in Sacramento.