WARDSVILLE - The Blair Oaks Lady Falcons were quick on their feet on defense, denying drives to the basket, slapping the ball away when they had the chance and closing out on the 3-point arc.
It made it difficult for the California Lady Pintos to get much established offensively and led to a 44-38 victory Friday for Blair Oaks.
"I think the last couple games have carried over into this one," Blair Oaks coach Brandon Moore said following the team's fourth straight win. "I think they're taking the next step in understanding of how to always be on the move and anticipate. I think we're anticipating really well. It's something we've been focused on all season and I think we found ourselves once we went through that tough point of the season."
The Lady Falcons have focused their attention on defense with executing the zone as well as possible, and it's paid off.
Opponents haven't scored more than 44 points during the winning streak.
"They guard everything good," California coach Bobby Sangster said. "They're a great team. Coach Moore has done a fantastic job and these girls have been good since they were young and moving up. They are playing like somebody who wants to go out and win districts."
The teams traded the lead for much of the first half, with Grace Boessen knocking down a 3-pointer in the final two minutes of the opening quarter to give Blair Oaks a 9-8 lead.
Trishelle Porter put the Lady Pintos back on top at 13-11 with a 3 from the wing.
Rylee Hees later got open at the top of the key on an in-bounds play and drained a 3 for a 17-13 advantage with 2:13 left in the first half.
The Lady Falcons then began to play full-court defense and California was held to a pair of free throws the rest of the half while Blair Oaks took the lead for good.
"It's something we normally just do out of dead ball situations," Moore said. "And tonight we started like that, but if you want to try to create quick offense you're gonna try and get some turnovers and get some stuff in transition. So we felt like we should try that a little bit."
Blair Oaks didn't shoot it much from beyond the arc, but they fell late in the second quarter.
Alyssa Hargus made one from the wing for an 18-17 lead as the clock went under a minute and Mallorie Fick closed out the half with a corner 3 for a 22-19 lead.
Blair Oaks then held California to six points in the third quarter to take a 29-25 lead into the final quarter.
The Lady Pintos managed to close to within two at 31-29 at the 5:40 mark of the fourth quarter when Bailey Lage made two free throws.
The Lady Pintos made the Lady Falcons work on the offensive end, but patience kept the clock running and the lead in a comfortable spot.
"California did a really good job in man-to-man tonight," Moore said. "They were really sound, they help really well. So we ran possessions 15, 20, 25 seconds at times and I just continued to tell the girls to be patient."
An Autumn Bax putback followed by a Fick steal and Natalie Heckman layup widened the margin to 35-29 midway through the fourth quarter.
"We turned the basketball over, it's that simple," Sangster said.
The Lady Falcons secured the win by spreading the ball around on offense and defending in the full court to run the clock down, and by making free throws.
Bailey Rissmiller finished 7-of-8 at the line on her way to a game-high 13 points. Alyssa Hargus was 5-of-7 at the line and added 10 points.
Bax had seven points and a game-high 12 rebounds.
Tristan Porter led California (12-8, 3-2 Tri-County) with 11 points, Lage had eight points and KaLynn Irey added seven.
Blair Oaks (10-10, 3-1 Tri-County) has a busy week ahead, hosting Hallsville on Monday, playing Tuesday at Versailles and hosting Southern Boone on Thursday to close out the regular season.
Blair Oaks won Friday's JV game 41-36. Emma Wolken scored 13 points and Taylor Groner added seven points for Blair Oaks (7-7).
Isabelle Rohrbach led California with 11 points.
In the C-team game, Blair Oaks won 33-22. Brianna Wilbers scored eight points and Olivia Veith tallied six for Blair Oaks (5-6).