WARDSVILLE - If Blair Oaks girls basketball coach Brandon Moore had the option, he wouldn't have flipped the calendar over to March on Monday.
The Lady Falcons won all six games they played in the month of February, turning around a season that included a stretch where Blair Oaks lost eight times in nine games against a difficult strength of schedule.
But March picked up where February left off, as Blair Oaks opened the Class 4 District 9 Tournament with a 55-34 victory against the Cuba Lady Wildcats.
"We're peaking at the right time," Moore said after the Lady Falcons extended their winning streak to eight games. "That's something, as a coach, you really want to be able to do as you're going into the postseason."
The Lady Falcons won six straight Tri-County Conference games to wrap up the regular season and finish second in the league. They placed third in the conference tournament to begin the season.
"We've made some subtle changes to our lineup, and that really helped us out," Moore said. "It's one of the things that is contributing to us hitting our stride. The girls are accepting their roles really, really well, and things are just starting to click."
During the seven wins to end the regular season, Blair Oaks held opponents to 37.1 points per game. In Monday's district opener, the defense set the tone from the get-go.
Blair Oaks forced 13 turnovers in the first eight minutes, and 20 of the Lady Falcons' 22 first-quarter points came off turnovers.
"We did that to them the first time down at the Comet Classic," Moore said of Blair Oaks' 61-28 win Jan. 11 against Cuba. "We just wanted to put as much pressure on them as possible and try to get some quick points."
Bailey Rissmiller made four baskets off steals in the first quarter, while Autumn Bax and Mallorie Fick each completed three-point plays. Alyssa Hargus added a pair of putbacks off offensive rebounds for the Lady Falcons, who began the second quarter with a 15-point lead.
Although Blair Oaks managed just eight points in the second quarter, the defense continued to pressure Cuba, forcing nine turnovers in the quarter. The Lady Wildcats ended the game with 30 turnovers in 32 minutes.
"We have to make sure we're there defensively," Moore said. "Defense wins games and we hang our hat on that.
"We're not always going to score 60 or 70 points, that's pretty tough for us. But as long as you can play good defense for four quarters, that's what we've been focusing on."
Blair Oaks led Cuba 30-13 at halftime. The Lady Falcons shot 0-of-9 from 3-point range in the first half, but Hargus and Fick each began the second half with a 3 to stretch the lead to 21 points.
"You've just got to get that first one to go," Moore said. "Once we started getting in a rhythm, the girls had confidence."
Blair Oaks led by as many as 30 points in the third quarter after Natalie Heckman scored off an in-bounds pass with 1:34 left to make the score 46-16. The Lady Falcons led 47-22 going into the fourth quarter.
The scoring effort was balanced for Blair Oaks, with Fick and Hargus each scoring 11 points, Rissmiller finishing with 10 points and Bax tallying nine first-half points.
"It makes it easier when you spread the scoring out," Moore said. "Over the last couple weeks, we've spent a lot of time talking about being unselfish basketball players and not worrying about who gets credit."
Tyra Haffer, a 6-foot freshman forward, scored a game-high 17 points for sixth-seeded Cuba (3-17) and added nine rebounds.
"She moves well and she's long," Moore said. "She has some skills around the rim and a good, soft touch. She was good from the free-throw line as well."
Blair Oaks (14-10), the No. 3 seed, will play Wednesday at second-seeded St. James (19-5). Tip-off for the district semifinal game is scheduled for 6 p.m.
This will be the third meeting this season between Blair Oaks and St. James. The Lady Falcons won 54-52 at St. James on Rissmiller's shot at the buzzer in their Dec. 10 matchup, but the Lady Tigers won the rematch 67-39 in the semifinals of the Comet Classic on Jan. 13.
"They're playing really good basketball as well," Moore said of St. James, which has won its last 11 games. "It's going to be quite the matchup, it's going to be a dogfight, it's going to be a battle for four quarters.
"I just hope that we come out and play the way that we've been playing the last several weeks."
In Monday's other district semifinal game, fifth-seeded Salem won on the road against fourth-seeded Owensville 62-43. Salem (16-9) advances to play top-seeded Fatima (18-7) at 6 p.m. Wednesday in Westphalia.