If its most recent playoff game against Seton-La Salle had taught Washington anything, it was to let the Rebels shoot freely from 3-point range. So, the Little Prexies left Seton's guards open from behind the arc. And the Rebels made them pay. Michael Caputo made four 3-pointers in the first half and finished with a game-high 17 points, as Seton-La Salle beat Washington, 51-44, in a WPIAL Class AA first-round rematch Monday night at West Allegheny High School. Washington had beaten Seton-La Salle, 54-50, in the first round last year after the Rebels missed 10 of 12 3-pointers in the first half. This time, they made 6 of 13 3-pointers in the first half to take a four-point halftime lead. Seton-La Salle (14-11) will play Beaver Falls, a 52-35 winner over Charleroi, in the Class AA quarterfinals at a time and site to be determined. "We wanted to get a jumpstart, so we could slow the pace down because we couldn't hang with them in transition," Caputo said. "I saw Joe miss a couple, so I had to pick it up. It just clicked for me. I felt like my technique was on, and they were going in." Caputo, a 5-foot-11 junior guard, led the way by making two treys in each of the first and second quarters. Joe Muraco, a 6-1 senior, added a pair of 3s and scored all 11 of his points in the second quarter. Seton turned a 14-10 deficit into a 22-16 lead on Muraco's 3-pointer from the left corner with 2:08 left. "That's what they were giving us," Seton-La Salle coach Mark DeIntinis said. "Mike got hot, and Joe hit a couple crucial ones. Those two guys feed off each other, if they key on Joey (DelSardo) and give them open looks." DelSardo, a 5-11 junior point guard, was 2 for 9 from the field, including 0 for 5 from 3-point range, in the first half. He finished with seven points, but made his mark in running the offense and stopping Washington's Dale Calloway on defense. Calloway was 1 for 5 from the field and finished with five points. "I thought Joey played an extremely smart game," DeIntinis said. "He got the ball to guys well and got us into sets I didn't even think to call. I told him, 'We need you to score, but we don't need you to score 20 points to win.' " Washington (12-11) was led by 6-7 senior center Brad Boni, who had 12 points and five rebounds but attempted only seven shots. The Little Prexies had difficulty with Seton's 2-3 zone defense and the Rebels' full-court pressure. "We just weren't very effective offensively, and we aren't going to be against a zone," Washington coach Ron Faust said. "We thought it would be a tight basketball game. We hoped they wouldn't get too streaky in their shooting because we don't have the offense to come back." Seton denied Boni the ball, and Calloway and senior Bryan Cherry (six points) tried to penetrate inside. The Prexies shot 16 of 41 from the field, but made 9 of 17 free throws. Even so, they rallied to take a 33-31 lead in the third. That's when Seton-La Salle got help off the bench from sophomore John Barley, who had nine points and made two free throws then had a 3-point play to give the Rebels a 36-33 lead with 35.9 seconds left in the third quarter. Washington took a 39-37 lead early in the fourth, but Seton responded with a 9-0 run to take control of the game. Washington was already in double bonus by then, and the Prexies had trouble handling the changing defenses and press. "We were pretty effective in keeping them guessing what (defense) we were in," DeIntinis said. "Our kids just did an excellent job."

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