SPRINGFIELD, Va. – Bethany fell behind early, made a run late but fell to St. John’s College Prep, a Washington, D.C. school, 63-46, Saturday night (Jan. 13) at the MLK Classic at The St. James.

“We played a team that matched our athleticism tonight. They exposed some of our faults because of that,” Bethany coach Eric Sailer said via text. “When we play a team like that we have to do the little things right. Blocking out is a great example. When we don’t account for everyone, we are leaving someone open to get a offense rebound for a put back.”

Sailer said his team made mistakes like not rotating on every possession and the Cadets made his team pay.

The Lady Bronchos (9-3) fell behind by 17 (43-26) with 4:51 left in the third quarter. Bethany had been pressing most of the game, turned up the defensive pressure and made a run, cutting the deficit to six points (52-46) with 3:58 left.

“I was proud of our fight,” Sailer said. “Games like these are good for us, it is easy to blow someone out. But when you are on the other side it makes you have to work.”

Junior Keziah Lofton scored a game-high 24 points on 11-of-18 shooting. Lofton also had four steals and two blocks. Senior Zya Vann added 17 points on 6-of-19 shooting. Only one other player scored for the Lady Bronchos, junior Kayten Donley, who finished with five points.

“We have to do a better job of getting more players involved when we play these elite teams,” Sailer said. I thought we had some good chances but struggled putting the ball in the basket mostly because of their tough defense.”

Bethany had 22 turnovers in the loss.

St. John’s (11-3) had three players in double-figures. Cadet senior Kyndal Walker, a Maryland commit, led St. John’s with 23 points. Fellow senior Carolae Barton, a Navy commit, added 15 points. Sophomore Morgan Stewart scored 13 points.

UP NEXT: The Lady Bronchos face Morris Catholic, eighth-ranked in the ESPN national poll Monday (Jan. 16). Tip-off is at 12:20 p.m. central time.

TEAM	1	2	3	4	F
Bethany	12	11	13	10	46
St. John’s Prep	18	19	11	15	63