Nothlake Christian School’s put together a balanced attack Friday with Hope Fitzgerald scoring a game-high 14 points and Caitlyn Anderson contributing 10 points to spur the Lady Wolverines to a 46-10 district victory over the Archbishop Hannan Lady Hawks at Hannan.

NCS (13-7) evened its District 7-1A record to 2-2, while Hannan (3-6) fell to 0-3 in district play.

Only two players scored for Hannan with junior guard Kimmy Kirsch scoring seven points and Kayla Rebouche adding three.

NCS'€™ Hope Fitzgerald (55) puts up a jumper defended by Archbishop Hannan'€™s Katelyn Donnelly in Friday'€™s District 7-1A game played at Hannan. (Staff Photo by Mike Pervel)

NCS dominated play from the early going, racing out to an 11-0 lead with Fitzgerald scoring two baskets and Anderson clicking on 3-of-4 free throws. Jenni O’Rear, who finished with eight points made a basket in the first quarter and Lady Wolverines’ point guard Molley Gaddy hit a hoop and ended up with six points for the game.

Hannan struggled from the field against the NCS defense in the opening period missing its first six shots and committed eight turnovers before Kirsch was able to drain a 3-pointer from the top of the key to make it 11-3 with just 29 seconds left in the opening quarter.

Fitzgerald, who scored in all four quarters, said the Lady Wolverines’ defense did a good job. “We’ve been practicing our full court defense. We wanted to put it in practice against Hannan. I think we were able to do that pretty effectively,” Fitzgerald said.

Hannan’s turnover woes continued in the second period as the Lady Hawks turned the ball over 13 times including 11 of them on consecutive possessions. The Lady Hawks missed their only four shot attempts in the quarter. NCS’ distinct height advantage inside caused Hannan problems trying to get off shots. NCS’ defense blanketed Hannan’s offensive players holding the Lady Hawks scoreless in the period. NCS didn’t set the nets on fire either, tallying just eight points to build a 19-3 halftime advantage.

NCS’ Anderson made all four of her free throw attempts in the second quarter with Fitzgerald and Gaddy hitting baskets.

NCS’ scored the first three points of the third quarter with Brandi Chesne scoring a basket and Anderson hitting 1-of-2 free throws to push the lead to 22-3.

Anderson, a 5-11 freshman, nicknamed the “Big Drink,” finished making 8-of-10 free throws.

“I usually shoot 100 free throws at practice or in the driveway at my house. I like being able to make them,” Anderson said.

Hannan managed to get on the board in the third quarter with Rebouche splitting a pair of free throws at the 4:27 mark. After NCS went up 28-4, Hannan’s Katelyn Donnelly found Kirsch on an inbounds pass and she finished the layup to make it 28-6 with 1:21 to go in the third quarter. NCS’ Chesne answered with a basket before Hannan’s Rebouche closed out the scoring with a basket in the final seconds of the period.

NCS poured in 16 points in the final quarter, limiting Hannan to just a basket by Kirsch. Fitzgerald netted six points in the fourth period and O’Rear added four.

NCS coach Tony Agresta praised the play of his defense.

“We have really been playing good defense,” Agresta said. “We held Southern Lab to 39 points in our last game and that was their lowest output of the season. I’m glad we’re playing good defense. When you’re not shooting well, that can help make up for things. We were able to mix our defense up and I thought the girls did a good job with that,” Agresta added.