LOST CREEK -- South Harrison used a dominant rebounding performance as the Hawks took a 52-37 intra-county victory over Notre Dame in girls basketball action Tuesday night.
The Hawks (2-1) were much quicker to the ball than the Irish (0-2) outrebounding them by a 51-22 margin with 29 of boards coming on the offensive end.
"I thought that was a key factor in the game," South Harrison coach Joe Johnson said. "We didn't shoot the ball very well, but getting those second and third opportunities helped us."
South Harrison never trailed and the game was tied only once at 2-2 in the first minute of the contest. After that, the Hawks took over behind Desiree Evans' 12 points in the first period to take a 18-7 lead.
Evans was just one of many reasons for the Hawks victory as the senior guard netted 16 points and grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds.
The Hawks continued to increase the lead over the first two periods and eventually settled for a 17-point, 27-10 halftime advantage.
Notre Dame quickly closed the gap as Mallory Menendez fired in two field goals to cut the deficit to 27-14 with 6:06 left.
However, the Hawks regrouped and used a 13-0 run to increase a 33-19 lead to their biggest of the game, 46-19 with a little over a minute to play in the third period.
Stephanie Brown led the surge with two 3-pointers to score nine of her 11 points for the Hawks.
"I thought we played a pretty good ball game," Johnson said.
"The things we have got to do is be scrappy because we are not very big and not have any mental mistakes."
Jenna Lea Rose had a solid game for South Harrison with nine points and 11 rebounds, while Kayla Lawrence contributed four points and nine rebounds.
Menendez led all scorers for the Irish with 28 points, including four 3-pointers. Deanna Mossalati followed with nine points and a team-high eight rebounds.
"We did not move the ball very well offensively and we also got hurt on the boards," Notre Dame coach Greg Douglass said. "But, we have just started the program back up and it is going to take some time for us to be a consistent team every night."
Notre Dame returns to action Wednesday night by hosting Valley-Wetzel. Game time is set for 7 p.m.
South Harrison returns to action on Thursday by hosting Liberty. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m.
