By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Publisher ABSECON — The Holy Spirit girls basketball team was coming off two straight losses, had a morning tipoff against Absegami on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and was without starting point guard Cass Gallagher, who is going through concussion protocol after being injured Friday night against Atlantic City. The Spartans needed somebody to step up, and senior Natalie Neiderhofer and a pair of sophomores — Regina Lamcken and Francesca Geromini — answered the call. Neiderhofer had one of her best games of the season, netting a game-high 16 points, and Lamcken and Geromini combined for 15 more as the Spartans used a 9-0 second-half run to pull away for a 41-27 victory over the visiting Braves. Absegami trailed by just six, 19-13, at halftime, and closed the gap to 24-19 midway through the third quarter on a driving layup by Liz Picardi. But then Holy Spirit (8-3, 5-1 CAL American) went on a 9-0 run that lasted the rest of the third quarter and into the fourth to take a commanding 33-19 lead. Absegami's Arielle Schafer tries to get around the defense of Holy Spirit's Francesca Geromini. Absegami’s Arielle Schafer tries to get around the defense of Holy Spirit’s Francesca Geromini. “I wasn’t really nervous. I get in the varsity games, so it’s really not that different, aside from not sitting on the bench in the beginning,” Lamcken said. “We play a lot of teams with height and it’s difficult because a lot of us aren’t that tall. You just have to make sure you don’t foul, that’s the hardest part.” Genira Nurse lead the Braves with 10 points and Picardi and Cara Hopkins each added four, but after that third-quarter run by the Spartans, Absegami couldn’t get enough done offensively to get back in the game. Geromini said it was a good win, especially coming off a pair of losses, and she hopes the Spartans can get on a roll this week. The Spartans are just a half-game behind Atlantic City for the top spot in the Cape-Atlantic League’s American Conference, while Abegami has some work to do the next few weeks to challenge for an at-large bid to the CAL Tournament as the Braves currently sit in fourth place in the CAL American. The top two teams in each of the league’s three conferences earn bids to the tournament, with two at-large teams rounding out the 8-team field. “It’s nice, and we play Oakcrest tomorrow, so hopefully we can keep this up,” Geromini said. Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays [adsense]