WARDSVILLE - It has been an all-hands-on-deck type of season for the Blair Oaks Lady Falcons.
As Blair Oaks has adopted the "next player up" philosophy, the wins have begun piling up as well.
The Lady Falcons utilized their depth Monday night, climbing above the .500 mark for the first time this season with a commanding 63-31 win against the Linn Lady Wildcats.
"We've been plagued with injuries," Blair Oaks coach Kevin Kohler said. "The first five or six games, we had to recover from that, the roles on who's going to accept what and who's going to play.
"We've got girls that, this time last year, I figured they'd be JV players. Now they're stepping up and playing varsity because they have to."
The Lady Falcons have won five of their last six games, and Kohler credits the turnaround to his team's improvement on pressure defense.
Leading 23-11 after a fast-paced first quarter, Blair Oaks didn't allow Linn to take a shot until 2:38 into the second quarter. The Lady Falcons forced turnovers on the Lady Wildcats' first five possessions of the quarter.
"People think when you say 'execution,' they think you're talking offense," Kohler said. "But you have to execute on defense as well."
By the time the horn sounded for halftime, Blair Oaks' defense had forced 11 turnovers in the second quarter, holding Linn to just one basket during those eight minutes. The Lady Falcons pulled away to a 41-14 lead at the break.
The aggressive defense also led to eight Blair Oaks fouls in the quarter.
"If you're forcing more turnovers than fouls, you're on the right track," Kohler said after his team forced 26 turnovers and committed 18 fouls Monday. "We're deep enough that if we foul a little bit, we're OK."
Blair Oaks' two leading scorers Monday - sophomores Brooke Boessen and Claire Heckman - have seen their roles grow as the Lady Falcons have had to overcome injuries earlier this season.
The Lady Falcons lost Macyn Wilbers for the season with a knee injury in the season opener, then lost another starter in Makenna Kliethermes, who broke her left hand.
Heckman took charge in the first half, coming off the bench to score 12 points, all before halftime.
"Claire is our first player in, but she can start too," Kohler said. "She's just a good, solid player. I would say her strength is defense - she's a good man-on-man defender - but she shoots the ball pretty well too."
Boessen has stepped into a starting spot in the post and has flourished in her new role. The 5-foot-9 sophomore had game-highs of 19 points and eight rebounds for Blair Oaks.
She found her groove in the third quarter, starting the quarter with a steal and a layup in the first 10 seconds. Boessen scored 12 points in the quarter, her last basket extending the Blair Oaks lead to 57-21.
"For a post in today's game, she's not very tall but she's such a jumper," Kohler said of Boessen, who has led Blair Oaks in scoring in eight of the past nine games. "How do you stop that? People are having trouble with her.
"We've already faced a couple of teams where they want to (double team) her and pack it in, but when she can leap like that, somehow she still gets her fair share."
At the other post position, Kellie Fredendall also scored in double figures with 10 points for the Lady Falcons.
Kohler noted other players have stepped up as of late. Halie Rackers has emerged into a starting role and plays point guard, while Kayla Jones, Macey Stockman and Peyton Kusgen have seen more minutes as the season has progressed.
"I wouldn't say we have everything figured out, but we're on the right track," Kohler said. "We want to get to that next echelon. We want to be up there with Southern Boone, Eldon, Osage and California."
Linn was led by Harley Nale, who scored nine points - all in the second half - before fouling out.
Blair Oaks (7-6) will play Thursday at Eugene, while Linn (6-6) hosts Belle on Thursday, looking to snap a four-game losing streak.
In the JV game, Blair Oaks won 45-14 against Linn. The Lady Falcons led 16-1 after one quarter and extended the lead to 28-7 at halftime.
Abby Girard led Blair Oaks (8-0) with 11 points.