There’s magic in the air surrounding the Marin Catholic High girls basketball team and the Wildcats’ wizardry has a lot to do with their defense.

Marin Catholic only gave up six points in the third quarter after a shutdown ending to the first half en route to a 61-44 victory over visiting Christopher of Gilroy in the CIF Northern California Division III first round.

The third-seeded Wildcats (22-11) will play at home again on Thursday, when they host No. 6 Menlo School at 7 p.m. Menlo (19-8) defeated St. Bernard’s 45-41.

“Throughout NCS and especially now, defense has been our No. 1 priority,” said MC senior Jocelyn Gigounas. “I’m happy that in the second half we were able to execute and really stop them.”

According to Marin Catholic first-year coach Kayden Korst, her players turned in their finest defensive quarter of the season to beat Justin-Siena 64-55 in the North Coast Section Division III final on Saturday. She says the Wildcats’ performance three days later against Christopher continued that effort.

“Two games in a row where our man-to-man defense is just nails,” said Korst. “All year we’ve been switching up our defenses. Sometimes when we get ourselves in situations where it’s closer than we feel it should be we’ll go man to man. The girls did that and it was awesome.”

The Wildcats trailed 26-21 with 3:29 remaining in the half, but by the end of the third quarter, they were up 45-32. Marin Catholic got stellar play from sophomore Brooke Spagnuolo, freshman Bailie Buresh and Gigounas to contain Christopher’s Brooklyn Sax, who had four three-pointers through the first 12 minutes before she was silenced the rest of the game.

The Wildcats were also well balanced offensively. MCAL Player of the Year Izzy McFadden led all players with 16 points. Spagnuolo and Cecelia Biernat scored 11 points apiece.

Gigounas added nine points and nine rebounds. Senior Sienna Frazier had six points and six assists.

The Wildcats’ depth impressed Christopher coach Sean Brown, whose team was making its third-straight appearance in the NorCal tournament. The Blossom Valley Athletic League — Mt. Hamilton division champs end the season at 20-7.

“They have an athletic team,” said Brown. “They box out and crash the boards. That makes a huge difference. They were playing good D and made adjustments. We didn’t counter that.”

Sax knocked down her fourth three-pointer of the half and Ember Navarro scored on a put-back to give Christopher a five-point lead midway in the second quarter before the Wildcats’ adjustments went into full effect.

With their defense sparking their offense, the Wildcats went on a 10-0 run to conclude the half with a 31-26 edge and they never looked back. Spagnuolo and McFadden both converted three-point plays during the late second-quarter flurry.

The Wildcats kept things rolling after intermission both offensively and defensively for a 45-32 cushion heading into the final period. Frazier scored twice and had an impressive assist on an inbounds play under the basket to Biernat.

Marin Catholic lost in the first round of the NorCal D-I tournament last season. In 2023, the Wildcats were the top seed in the NorCal D-II tournament but were upset at home in the NorCal semifinals.

Gigounas, who was on that 2023 team, believes the Wildcats have what it takes to go even farther this season.

“I feel like there’s something special about this team,” said Gigounas. “We have the drive to win. We care so much about every game. Every game is our most important game of the season. I think 100 percent we can go all the way if we stay focused.”

The last time Marin Catholic reached the NorCal final was 2002 under coach Rick DeMartini. The Wildcats won three NorCal titles in five years, culminating with their only state championship in 2002.