For four minutes, Cretin-Derham Hall looked overmatched. For the final 32 minutes, the Raiders looked matchless.

Led by an efficient trio of guards, the Raiders spotted Duluth East an early 8-1 lead, then ran past the Greyhounds to a 68-49 victory. The backcourt threesome of Taylor Montero, Cortez Tillman and Raijon Kelly outplayed Duluth East’s more heralded pairing of Johnny Woodard and Taylor Stafford, scoring 53 of Cretin-Derham Hall’s points.

“This is our first time here, so Coach emphasized getting past the first five minutes,” said Montero, a smooth-shooting lefty who led the Raiders with 23 points and also grabbed 13 rebounds. “We were nervous for the first couple of shots — I had an airball — but then it was just about playing the game.”

As good as Cretin-Derham Hall (23-7) was offensively — and the Raiders looked very polished, making nearly half of their shots from the floor, 24 of 52 — it was the defense that got the ball rolling.

They shut down Woodard and Stafford, holding both below their per-game averages and forcing them to work for every shot. Woodard led East (22-7) with 16 points and Stafford had 11, but together they made just seven of 27 shots.

“Defense determined the game for us,” Cretin-Derham Hall head coach Jerry Kline Jr. said.

DULUTH EAST

CRETIN-DERHAM HALL