“We knew we had to be ready to play today,” Rios said. “Barry (Adair, the North Clay coach) does a great job getting his team prepared. He knows what adjustments to make and always gets the most out of his kids.”

Rios hit another jumper just 13 seconds into the second quarter. That sparked a 9-0 run that saw Vonderheide hit a pair of foul shots and Lucy Fearday score five straight points, including a three-pointer from the top of the key. With 6:18 left in the opening half, the Lady Bulldogs had built a 20-point bulge, 28-8.

After North Clay’s Miah Ballard hit a shot from long range to cut the margin to 15, Faber hit a short jumper and Vonderheide drained a three to expand the lead to 33-15 as both teams headed to the locker room at halftime.

“We’ve been playing a lot of man-to-man defense the last few games,” Rios said. “But I wanted to work on our zone some today. Our defense has come along well the past few weeks. The girls know their rotations and have been executing really, really well.”

St. Anthony went on an 8-4 run to open the second half, but North Clay responded with a scoring run of its own. Ballard hit two jumpers, Leah Wetherholt added another and Alexis VanDyke connected on a long three to cap the 9-0 surge and cut the margin to 41-28.

But Ruholl hit a three of her own and Rios added another jumper to build the gap back to 15 points, 46-31, heading into the final eight minutes.

If the Lady Cardinals had any thoughts of a late comeback, the Lady Bulldogs put those thoughts to rest quickly. Faber converted a North Clay turnover in a layup, plus she was fouled and hit the free throw to complete the three-point play. Ruholl followed with a three and Fearday turned another turnover into a basket to give the Lady Bulldogs a 23-point cushion, 54-31, with 5:16 left in the game.

It never got closer than 22 points the rest of the way.

“I thought we played pretty good today,” Rios said. “We shot the ball pretty well, got balanced scoring and didn’t turn it over much. That’s a good combination.”

SAHS had three players in double figures. Faber and Vonderheide led the way with 13 points each and Ruholl added 12.

The Lady Bulldogs, who were ranked No. 9 in AP’s latest Class 1A poll, improved to 23-5 on the season. They will be tested Monday night when they return home to face Tuscola. The Lady Warriors feature a perfect 29-0 record and are ranked No. 2 in Class 1A.

“We’ll have a big test Monday night, but I like playing good teams like Tuscola,” Rios said. “I also like where our team is at right now.”