Other than a few minutes at the beginning – when the Lady Bulldogs missed their first five shots -- this game was never in doubt.

St. Anthony’s defense set the tone. Four straight BSE turnovers resulted in four straight scores. Nancy Ruholl had two of those, while Lilly Gannaway and Addie Lauritzen accounted for the other two, staking SAHS to an 8-2 lead – and lead it never relinquished.

The Lady Bombers were within four, 11-7, after Williams knocked down a three-pointer from the corner, but the rest of the entire first half belonged to the Lady Bulldogs.

Ruholl was on fire. The junior standout connected on a trio of shots from behind the arc and scored 15 first-quarter points. The third of those three-pointers gave St. Anthony a 21-10 advantage when the first eight minutes came to a close.

Ruholl turned another BSE turnover into a basket and Gannaway hit a shot from long range to quickly make it a 16-point spread, 26-10, to open the second period.

The Lady Bombers continued to turn the ball over – 10 in the second quarter; 17 in the first half – and the margin continued to increase. After another three by Gannaway, it was a 20-point cushion, 34-14. Heading to the locker room at intermission, St. Anthony was on top, 38-21.

The Lady Bulldogs shot extremely well that first half, but the key was the defense – something Rios decided to change after facing BSE in the NTC Tournament.

“That last game, we played man-to-man,” he noted. “I didn’t like how that allowed (Dayana) Haslett to roam around. She had too many opportunities to either shoot a three, drive to the basket or pass to an open teammate. We didn’t want that again tonight.”

In that first meeting, BSE’s talented sophomore pumped in 29 points. But it was a different scenario altogether Thursday night.

“I decided to run our zone,” Rios explained. “We doubled Haslett whenever we could. Everything we did defensively was predicated by No. 23 (Haslett). She’s a terrific player. The zone was working, so we just stuck with it.”

Haslett was limited to 12 total shots and 13 points.

The Lady Bombers tried to make it a game in the third period. Madi Miller made a short jumper, Haslett connected from long range and then added a free throw, helping the hosts trim the margin to 12 points, 39-27, three minutes into the second half.

But Gannaway responded with another three-pointer that sparked the game-deciding scoring surge. Ady Rios scored five points, Lauritzen had three and Ruholl connected on another from behind the arc. Lauritzen’s free throw capped a 17-4 run to close out the third quarter and provide the Lady Bulldogs with a commanding 56-31 advantage heading into the final period.

Back-to-back baskets by Ruholl and Rio expanded the margin to 30 points, 64-34, at the 4:45 mark. That’s when the continuously running clock took effect.

In addition to Haslett’s 13 points, Miller scored 10 for the Lady Bombers, who dipped to 24-6 overall and finished 7-1 in the league.

BSE shot 33 percent from the floor, connecting on 13-of-39 attempts. They were 3-for-14 from long range and 6-for-13 at the foul line. They finished with 25 turnovers.

Ruholl had a game-high 29 points. She was 10-for-19 overall and 5-for-6 from three-point range. Rios and Gannaway were also in double figures for SAHS, netting 14 and 13 points respectively.

The Lady Bulldogs made 25-of-52 shots, a 48 percent clip. They were 8-for-14 from behind the arc and 9-for-16 at the free throw line. They held a 26-20 rebounding advantage and committed just 11 turnovers.

It was the ninth straight victory for St. Anthony, which finished 8-0 in the NTC and improved to 22-4 overall.

“We focus on the things we want to control,” Coach Rios said. “Our system is working real well right now. We go through a lot of simulation in practice when we’re preparing our plays for an opponent. That’s the main reason why we can execute so well when we come on the floor. The girls have bought into our system and it shows.”

That system has produced four consecutive seasons of 20-plus wins and three straight trips to the sectional. Currently, the Lady Bulldogs are the No. 1-ranked team in Class 1A and will undoubtedly be a top seed in whatever regional they are assigned.

“We’re in a really good rhythm right now,” Rios said. “But I think we can get even better the next couple weeks. We’ve had an awesome season so far, but it’s not going to be any easy ride from here on out. We’re going to be playing some good teams before the postseason begins.”

The Lady Bulldogs will finish the regular season with three home games – Saturday against Flora; Monday against a ranked Tuscola team; and Thursday against a good Newton squad.