WARDSVILLE, Mo. - The Fatima Lady Comets can wear down a team with their full-court press and ball pressure. They can also force a flurry of turnovers playing that way, too.
On Friday night, the Blair Oaks Lady Falcons made sure to utilize their bench and guard play to manage the duress they faced.
It couldn't have worked out any better.
Blair Oaks only turned the ball over three times in the second half and scored 30 points in a dominant fourth quarter to win 78-56.
"We talked about attacking and continuing to play because they are going to play that way the whole game," Blair Oaks coach Darren Heckman said after Blair Oaks defeated Fatima for the first time at home since 2012. "They give you some opportunities if you take care of it on the front end.
"You're going to turn it over some, but I thought our guards did a really good job of getting through there and then it leads to good shots."
Up 48-42 after the third quarter, the Lady Falcons scored the first 11 points of the final quarter and Fatima didn't recover.
The Lady Falcons only missed two shots and one free throw during the final eight minutes.
"We've played them and struggled to get to get to 40 points because you let them play the way they want to play," Heckman said. "I just thought we handled it pretty well."
And the defense had a hand in the fourth-quarter run as well.
Bailey Rissmiller forced the first of five fourth-quarter turnovers and made two free throws for a double-digit lead early in the fourth and Abby Girard later made her two free throws after an offensive foul gave it back to Blair Oaks to cap the 11-0 run. Rissmiller scored 11 points.
Blair Oaks used a zone defense to defeat Hermann last week but used mostly man-to-man defense against a good- shooting Fatima team.
"We went back to man and just said, 'We've just got to guard them,'" Heckman said. "We've got to talk and we really got some stops. It sounds simplistic but that's really what generates easy baskets at the other end."
Brooke Boessen added the finishing touches to her 26-point night with a basket with 2:32 remaining for a 70-50 lead. Boessen also had 12 of Blair Oaks' 30 rebounds.
"It's a tribute to the guards," Heckman said. "She shot layups. She was ready to go but we did a really good job of finding her. When she gets in a rhythm like that, she's a difficult person to handle down there."
The first points of the game for Blair Oaks came on a Boessen layup after the Lady Falcons maneuvered the ball around the press.
Then Halie Rackers made back-to-back 3-pointers off Fatima turnovers for an 8-2 start. Rackers was 4-of-7 from deep for a 14-point performance.
Rackers, Rissmiller and Claire Heckman started, but Kayla Jones and Peyton Kusgen played a lot of minutes off the bench to make sure they had enough energy at the end.
"I thought it was important that we used everybody tonight because they'll wear you out," Heckman said.
Blair Oaks forwards Makenna Kliethermes and Kaitlyn Kolb also provided big minutes off the bench.
"They are bigger than probably every team they play," Fatima coach Matt Baker said. "It's hard to play against."
Blair Oaks led 15-11 after the first quarter and 21-16 three minutes into the second quarter before Fatima made a run.
Lauren Brandt, who led the Lady Comets with 15 points, and Alyssa Struemph, who scored 12 points, each made a pair of free throws to cut the deficit to one. Morgan Laux tied it at 23 with a 3-pointer from the left wing with 3:38 left before halftime.
Struemph added the final basket of the half with :04 on the clock to tie it at 32 at halftime.
Katelyn Vanderfeltz gave Fatima the lead with a 3 a couple minutes into the second half and a Bridget Holterman free throw made it 36-35 with 5:31 on the clock, but Boessen grabbed her 10th rebound of the game off the missed free throw and scored at the other end to give Blair Oaks the lead for good.
Fatima (7-2) is off until next Friday when it begins play in the Linn Invitational.
Blair Oaks (7-2) will play Thursday against St. Joseph Benton in the State Farm Holiday Hoops Invitational at Rackers Fieldhouse. The game is scheduled to tip off at 7 p.m.
"We're excited to be a part of that," Heckman said. "We're going to keep focusing on ourselves and use this tournament to help us get better."