By Daniel Green |  BWS Sports

EVANS — Over the past few weeks, the Rosepine Lady Eagles had been struggling scoring.

So what better way to key your offense than by kicking it up a notch defensively.

“We put an emphasis on defense and tempo,” Rosepine head coach C.T. Kiely said following his Lady Eagles’ win Tuesday over the Evans Lady Eagles, 73-42. “We had been struggling to score and I thought we were very aggressive pushing the ball. We also played hard on defense.”

The defense came to the forefront for Rosepine during a four-minute stretch in the second period. With the game tied at 18-18, Rosepine outscored Evans, 21-3, sparked by five steals from Nevaeh Rivera and several blocked shots from Taylor Farris. The duo also combined for 14 points during the surge, giving Rosepine an 18-point lead at the intermission, 39-21.

It was more of the same in the second half for Rosepine as Addison Fruge and Kelly Norris got into the scoring act during a 22-16 outburst in the third period.

Evans continued to battle behind the shooting of Riley Haus and Madi Gollihugh. But it was too little, too late for Evans as it fell at home to its neighbors from Rosepine.

“Evans is a well-coached team,” Kiely said. “For us to get this win, I knew we would have to have a solid performance like this.”

Farris finished a block short of a triple double, coming in with 17 points, 11 rebounds and nine blocked shots. Norris added 17 points and 12 rebounds, while Rivera contributed 15 points and 11 steals. Fruge chipped in with 13 points.

Haus led the way for Evans with a game-high 18 points, while Gollihugh added 11 points.