WARDSVILLE - It was a successful night for the Blair Oaks Lady Falcons.
They forced turnovers off their press and 1-3-1 zone, moved and distributed the ball, and ran away with a 61-16 victory against the Linn Lady Wildcats on Thursday.
"It's easier obviously when you get down the floor before they get their five girls down the floor, so we talked about being able to do that off of defense," Blair Oaks coach Darren Heckman said.
The first points of the game came on a Claire Heckman layup off a Lady Falcon steal. That became a trend as Blair Oaks scored 14 of its 22 first-quarter points following a turnover.
Back-to-back steals for Makenna Kliethermes led to a Halie Rackers jumper and Kliethermes layup for a 14-1 lead.
A Heckman basket sandwiched between a pair of Kayla Jones 3-pointers in the final 1:18 of the opening quarter made it 22-1.
Blair Oaks began the second quarter cold from the floor, but Brooke Boessen banked in a short jumper and stole the ball to set up a Heckman jumper to get back rolling.
A Kliethermes steal and Kathleen Groner basket finished the first-half scoring with :57 on the clock, making it 34-5.
Heckman made all six of her shots to lead Blair Oaks with 12 points.
"She had a solid game," Darren Heckman said. "I really liked the way she was moving her feet without fouling And offensively she attacked the rim."
Boessen, Jones and Bailey Rissmiller each scored 10 points.
"I thought Bailey Rissmiller really did a good job pushing the ball and finding people," Heckman said.
Rissmiller also had a game-high seven rebounds.
"She's very active," Heckman said. "She's not tall, but she can get off the floor. She's a good rebounder for a guard. I thought she played one of her better floor games tonight."
Alexis Wolfe and Chloe Rhoden each scored four points for Linn (4-4). The Lady Wildcats will play Monday at Eugene.
Up next for Blair Oaks (5-2) is Hermann (7-1) in the Capital City Shootout at Fleming Fieldhouse. The game is scheduled to tip off at 4 p.m. Saturday.
"We're really excited for the opportunity to play in that event and play Hermann," Heckman said. "They are a great basketball team. We're excited to get the chance to play them and see kind of where we're at."
Blair Oaks defeated Linn 67-10 in the JV game. Madison Boessen and Natalie Heckman each scored 13 points for Blair Oaks. Lauren Strange added 12 points.
In the freshman contest, Blair Oaks won 41-10. Grace Boessen paced the Lady Falcons with 13 points.