LuHi girls advance in Federation

ALBANY – Christine Raiti was a long-distance operator early Friday afternoon.

The Long Island Lutheran junior guard sank five of eight three-pointers and scored a game-high 23 points to lead the Crusaders to a 67-45 victory over St. Mary’s-Lancaster in a Class B Federation Tournament of Champions girls basketball semifinal played at the Times-Union Center.

Raiti made four treys in the first half, when Lutheran (19-5) built a 35-24 lead by going an impressive 7 of 14 from downtown. Raiti made the team’s only three of the second half, when the Crusaders broke the game open with a 9-0 run in the fourth quarter to take a 59-39 lead.

"I’m a streak shooter but I had help from my teammates," Raiti said. "They got me the ball."

Eighth-grade point guard Boogie Brozoski had eight assists, six steals and 11 points while junior guard Paige Kriftcher contributed 16 points and six assists.

Lutheran will face Irvington of Westchester in the Class B title game on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. Irvington, which defeated Scholars Academy, 63-43 in Friday’s other semifinal, routed LuHi in the semifinals of last year’s Federation tournament, 70-42.