The Forestburg Lady Horns started the second round of district with an easy win against Prairie Valley on Tuesday night.
The Lady Horns won 50-22 against a Lady Bulldog team whose depth was tested.
Forestburg came into the game following a non-district win against Savoy, which was a pick-me-up following a disappointing loss to Saint Jo, the only one the Lady Horns suffered during the first round of district play as the team went 4-1
Prairie Valley was on the other end, having gone 0-5 in the first round of district play as the six-player team was tested in conditioning and resolve every game, especially against teams that employed full-court presses against the Lady Bulldogs low numbers.
That was Forestburg’s plan and early on the press was a deterrent, but the Lady Horns were not scoring in transition from turnovers they created. Forestburg tried to carve up Prairie Valley’s 2-3 zone and found openings when the passes were sharp.
Still, the Lady Bulldogs offense executed some to start the game, with the score actually tied at 7-7 midway through the first quarter. When Prairie Valley broke the press, it seemed to capitalize on the few chances it had to start the game.
Unfortunately for the Lady Bulldogs, that type of play was short-lived. Fatigue and frustration at falling behind 15-7 heading into the second quarter led to a scoring draught that lasted almost two whole quarters for Prairie Valley.
Despite playing better defense that held the Lady Horns to single-digits in the second quarter, the Lady Bulldogs got more bad news right before halftime when point guard Makaylee Gomez went down with an ankle injury.
Forestburg led 23-7 at halftime, but Prairie Valley knew playing without the senior would make breaking the press defense tough.
It was to start the third quarter as the Lady Horns press smelled blood and converted turnovers to quick points and the Lady Bulldogs could barely get across half court.
Then when a Prairie Valley player fouled out after the first few minutes, Gomez gutted it out and came back in so her team would not be down a player.
Thankfully, Forestburg Coach Cori Hayes had a heart and called off the full-court press, even if his players were still eager to try and put pressure on the ball in the half-court in a game that was already physical.
The Lady Horns had their best scoring stretch of the game in the third quarter as six different players made at least one basket as the lead grew and grew.
Prairie Valley put an end to the scoring draught with two minutes to go in the third quarter when Natalee Young made a 3-pointer.
Forestburg led 41-10 heading into the fourth quarter.
With the lead so far ahead, the Lady Horns the intensity waned and cycled in their whole bench.
This allowed the Lady Bulldogs offense to have their best stretch of the game as they more than doubled their three quarter total by scoring 12 points.
Forestburg won 50-22.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.