A hot start by St. Bede fueled a 51-23 victory over the Sandwich Indians on Saturday evening during the final game of the 2025 Lady Bruins Christmas Classic to claim second place in its own tournament.

Early on, it was senior Lili McClain doing the damage. She began the game with a 3-pointer and then used a strong drive from the top of the key to put the Bruins ahead 5-2. Just moments after that, it was Savannah Bray with a strong drive of her own followed by another 3-pointer that pushed the lead to 10-2.

After an Indians timeout, it was Khloe White with the dribble and pull-up jumper to end the 7-0 St. Bede run.

But that did little to slow the Bruins down, as McClain added her third 3-pointer of the first quarter and 11th point to give St.Bede a 14-4 lead heading into the second quarter.

“Lili is obviously our go-to person,” St. Bede coach Tom Ptak said. “She’s been shooting the ball very well, and once again she did that tonight, especially in the first quarter.”

The Bruins continued to play strong in the second, as Ashlan Heersink drained a shot behind the arc to start, and McClain quickly followed on the next play with a steal and layup as the lead grew to 19-4.

Alayla Harris – who had a nice night with six rebounds – got a jumper to fall with the soft touch, but it was the sophomore Parker McClain with a 3-pointer as the St. Bede defense continued to shut down the Indians with a 25-8 halftime lead.

Just like the start of the game, it was Lili McClain with her fourth 3-pointer of the night to start the half to push the lead to 20.

Bailey Frieders – who had a nice second half for the Indians – had a nice drive and layup, Lili McClain countered with a drive of her own to make it 31-12.

Bailey Brummel added a stick-back for the two points, but St. Bede had a response once again as Hanna Heiberger had a toe on the line for the long deuce before Tula Rue got the stick-back as the Bruins led 36-14 after three quarters.

Sandwich got a long2-point bucket and then a 3-pointer to make it 45-21, but the Bruins had multiple trips down the floor with multiple offensive rebounds, and while they didn’t turn them into many points, it did take possessions away from Sandwich.

“I thought we played better in the second half,” Sandwich coach Ray Napientek said. “It’s easy to believe you can do it when you’re down 20 points, but we have to believe we can from the start.”

“I told the girls after the game that we will be working on the shots in the lane and free throws,” Ptak said. “Offensive rebounds are nice, but if we can’t finish and hit free throws, that can cost us in close games.”

For the game, Lili McClain led all scorers with 21 points, while Waszkowiak added eight. The Indians were led by Brummel with six.

Chillicothe IVC won the tournament with a 4-0 record, while the Bruins finished second having lost to IVC 59-51.