MOOSEHEART, IL,  Feb. 23 - In a high school game where 137 points were scored, it may be stretching things to say that defense decided the contest--but, had Mooseheart not figured a way to stop Universal Academy's most lethal scorer, the Ramblers might not have won Tuesday's IHSA Class A Mooseheart Regional opener.

Playing a postseason game on their own court, the Ramblers escaped with a 76-61 victory, thanks in no small part to the 15-4 point total in the fourth quarter. Mooseheart opened the final period with an 11-2 run to put the game well out of reach for the Stars.

"We had to find their shooters a lot better in the second half than we did in the first half," Mooseheart coach Ron Ahrens said. "We gave them a bunch of good, open looks just because we kept losing guys. Give credit to (Universal), they shot the heck out the basketball."

Mooseheart advances to Wednesday's semifinal, playing Morgan Park at 8 p.m.  The Warriors defeated Islamic Foundation 60-30 in Tuesday's other contest. The first semifinal, a 6 p.m. ballgame on Wednesday pits top seed Chicago Hope Academy against Chicago St. Gregory (which on Monday had beaten the Academy of Scholastic Achievement of Chicago, 51-46 in a play-in game.

"It's always nice to win the first (postseason) game," Ahrens said. "We have 16 wins, and that's 3 more wins than we had last year."

For most of the opening three quarters, offense sparked both clubs. For Universal, that offense came in the form of Shafiq Said. The 5-10 junior had 22 points by halftime, added a 15-point outburst in the third quarter and finished with a game-high 37 points. Said was particularly effective from beyond the 3-point arc, from where he sank 9 shots.

Mooseheart (16-10) changed its defense on Said in the second half, using Shawn McReynolds to shadow the Stars' superb scorer.

"We just said 'you're going to guard 41,'" Ahrens said, referring to Said's uniform number. "He can shoot. I guarantee he shot better than 50 percent."

Mooseheart's hot-handed shooter was junior Levi Chavez, who finished with a career-high 30 points, most from close-in, and many off of beautiful feeds from his teammates. At halftime, Chavez had 18 points and he benefited from 11 points in the Ramblers strong fourth quarter.

"We got after it in the second and played more as a team," Chavez said. "We got after the ball and I was the big benefactor."

But where Said had little support--the Stars' second-highest scorer was Mohammad C Yassin with just 8 points--Chavez was not alone in scoring strongly for his team. Munir Smith had 17 points despite not scoring at all in the fourth quarter. McReynolds scored 10 points and Damion Moore added 9 points for the Ramblers.

3-point goals:

Universal: Ali 1, Said 9.
Mooseheart: McReynolds 1.

Fouled out: None.