BROOKVILLE — Turning up the defensive pressure, the Brookville Lady Raiders basketball team once again used their physical style and relentless attack to eventually put away visiting North Clarion in a Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference matchup Friday night.

The Lady Raiders used a 10-0 in the third quarter to turn a two-point lead into a 35-23 cushion on their way to a 52-35 victory. That improved the Lady Raiders to 7-3 overall and 3-0 in the KSAC.

North Clarion (4-5, 2-2) was a stubborn visitor for awhile, jumping out to a 9-2 lead. Its tall lineup playing out of a 2-3 zone defensive setup gave the Lady Raiders fits all night as the She-Wolves blocked a whopping 18 shots, including 12 in the second half.

However, as good as 18 blocks looked for the She-Wolves — six different players swatted shots led by Kyle Freeman’s five — the overwhelming statistic of the night was the 35 North Clarion turnovers to just 12 for the host Lady Raiders.

“I think it was just constant pressure all night. That’s what we’re trying to do. That’s what we did tonight,” Lady Raiders head coach Mark Powell said. “It was the lack of converting on some of those turnovers early in the game that was a problem, but we did have a run in that third quarter of about five minutes where we turned them over several times. We turned them over and we converted those into buckets and/or free throws. That’s where we were able to take that lead from one or two possessions to double digits.”

Samantha Whitling led all scorers with 21 points while Ally Wilson came off the bench to score 14 points and grab 10 rebounds. The Lady Raiders outrebounded North Clarion, 48-32, with an impressive 29 offensive boards. They had plenty of opportunities considering they were a rough 17-for-78 from the field.

“Their size was something that we definitely took notice of going into the game,” Powell said. “We try to stay aggressive and get in there and basically put up as many shots as we can, knowing that some of them are going to get blocked. We had a lot blocked tonight, but we made enough to win.”

The 9-2 North Clarion lead was erased by the end of the first quarter which saw the Lady Raiders hold a 13-12 edge.

A 6-0 Lady Raiders run put them up 23-18 before Alexa Carll’s basket with two seconds on the clock cut it to 23-20 by halftime.

Sydney Baumcratz, who led the She-Wolves with 12 points on four 3-opinters, cut it to 25-23 with her second triple of the game at the 6:26 mark of the third quarter. Over the next 1:41, the Lady Raiders’ press blitzed North Clarion for a decisive 10-0 run and a 35-23 lead after a Whitling layup off a steal with 4:45 left in the third.

The Lady Raiders, up 39-27 going into the fourth, scored the first five points of the fourth for a 44-27 lead and closest North Clarion got from there was 13 points.

“I think we have to continue to work on the rotations in our pressure packages,” Powell said. “We just need nights where we convert those into buckets. When we convert, it’s going to be a good night for us offensively. When we don’t, you know it’s going to be a scrap.”

The Lady Raiders visit Penns Manor Tuesday.

Bookville won the JV game, 31-23. Evie Smith and Julie Greeley scored nine and eight points respectively.

BROOKVILLE 52,

NORTH CLARION 35

Score By Quarters

North Clarion 12 8 7 8 — 35

Brookville 13 10 16 13 — 52

North Clarion –35

Sydney Baumcratz 4 0-0 12, Abby Hastings 3 0-0- 6, Jadyn Reisinger 0 0-0 0, Alexa Carll 2 1-2 5, Kyler Freeman 2 0-0 4, Brittany Thompson 2 0-1 4, Ava Hannold 0 0-0 0, Kinsley Freeman 2 0-0 4. Totals: 15 1-3 35.

Brookville –52

Emma Northey 1 4-4 7, Lily Plyler 2 1-2 5, Laela Kammerdeiner 0 0-2 0, Kaida Yoder 1 0-0 2, Samantha Whitling 6 9-11 21, Whitney Guth 0 3-6 3, Ally Wilson 7 0-2 14, Evie Smith 0 0-0 0. Totals: 17 17-27 52.

3-pointers: North Clarion 4 (Baumcratz 4), Brookville 1 (Northey).