Ever found 24 bucks on the sidewalk?

Something can be said for being in the right place at the right time.

Cape Central's reward for being opportunistic didn't come in the form of cash, however. It came in the form of 24 turnovers.

The Cape Central Lady Tigers were in the right place at the right time almost the entire game Friday night in a 58-49 win over cross-town rival Notre Dame.

Turnovers doomed the host Lady Bulldogs in the battle of state-ranked teams as Notre Dame -- ranked fifth in 2A -- had to rally late just make the score respectable.

"The story tonight was turnovers," Notre Dame coach Jerry Grim said. "We just dug ourselves in a hole and couldn't get out of it."

"We did a nice job defensively," said Cape Central coach Darrick Smith, whose team is ranked ninth in 4A and has handed Notre Dame two of its four losses. "We did a good job of rotating and shifting."

Coupled with Notre Dame's notion to turn the ball over was its inability to hit open shots, particularly at the beginning of the first and third quarters.

In the first 6 1/2 minutes of the game, the Lady Bulldogs missed their first eight shots and turned the ball over eight times. It looked like a different team that committed just nine turnovers the whole game at Jackson last week.

"We haven't played well at home our last four or five games," said Grim. The Lady Bulldogs didn't have much of a home-court advantage in terms of fan support as less than half of the bleachers were full. "We're known as a physical team and on our home court we got outphysical-ed."

While Cape Central was picking off passes and stripping the ball on defense, it was Mindy Hoffman who was in the right spots on offense.

Hoffman erupted for a career-high 20 points, which included four 3-pointers. She was the beneficiary of several skip passes in the corner off of Notre Dame's zone defense. Hoffman hit four of her eight 3-point attempts.

"That's one thing Mindy can do," Smith said. "She can get hot. You've got to have that against a zone. You've got to have someone who is not afraid to shoot it."

While Hoffman scored the most points, her teammate Dionna Webb had the best all-around performance. In one of her best games of the year, Webb scored 16 points, dished out nine assists, grabbed seven rebounds and added five steals for good measure.

"She's so hard to matchup with because she's so quick," said Grim of Central's point guard.

Cape Central was in control for the entire game and never trailed. The Lady Tigers scored nine unanswered points to start the game. Notre Dame chiseled at the lead and trailed just 30-25 at halftime, but Central outscored the Lady Bulldogs 18-10 in the third quarter to lead 48-35 going into the final quarter.

Central led by as many as many as 19 in the third quarter and led by 18 with 4:01 left in the fourth. Then Notre Dame -- out of nowhere -- went on a 11-2 run and cut the lead to single figures with :52 left.

Though proud of the win, Smith knows he caught Notre Dame on a bad night.

"They showed some guts at the end and showed what they could do," said Smith. "I didn't think they shot the ball well and that happens sometimes even at home. They're tough. They've got a legitimate chance to make it to Columbia."

Notre Dame had three players in double figures. After getting off to a slow start, Deana McCormick led the way with 16, followed by Ashley Millham with 14. Lisa Millham -- the team's top scorer on the season -- scored 10 but was shut out until the fourth quarter.

Hoffman and Webb were the only players in double figures for Central, but 10 players found the scoring column.