CRYSTAL FALLS — In a game that featured five freshmen in prominent roles, one in particular proved to be the difference in the contest between Florence and Forest Park on Tuesday at Eddie Chambers Gymnasium.

Florence rookie Miley VanDenHeuvel scored nine of her team-high 12 points in the decisive second quarter when the LadyCats outscored the Lady Trojans by 10 en route to their 47-41 victory over their border neighbors.

The teams battled evenly in the opening quarter with Forest Park leading 10-8 heading into the second frame. But VanDenHeuvel, who came in as a reserve, sparked a 10-0 stretch to begin the quarter with a driving layup, a bucket in the post and an and-one as the LadyCats (7-4) turned their slight deficit into a solid 25-17 lead at the halftime break.

“She showed her potential tonight,” head coach Kris Johnson said of the 6-foot center who also finished with six rebounds, three steals, two blocks and an assist. “And what a great time for it when we didn’t have all of our girls in the lineup.”

Without their best and most experienced player, Kamdan Johnson, out with a slight hamstring injury, the LadyCats moved freshman Kelsi Chrisman into the primary ball-handling role and utilized sophomores CeCe Mills and Naomi Miller along with seniors Abigail Novak and Bryn Sullivan in the starting lineup.

Those girls, along with junior reserve Ashley Peterson, helped make up for Johnson’s absence. But VanDenHeuvel was Forest Park’s toughest matchup.

“She’s lefthanded, and we knew she was going to turn to her left and score,” FP coach Kim Bjork said. “We were hoping our help defense was going to be there, and sometimes it was … but we don’t have a true big.

“We were prepared for it, but we just didn’t have an answer for (her).”

Florence took a 6-2 lead to begin the contest on two layups by Chrisman and two free throws from Novak. However, the Lady Trojans (3-5) responded with an 8-2 spurt to take a 2-point advantage heading into the second quarter.

Freshman guard Audrey Williams hit a bank shot off an assist by classmate Harper Anderson and before sinking a 3-pointer off an assist by her older sister Elsie.

Senior Kaidince Woollard recorded a driving bucket and Elsie Williams sank 3 of 4 free throws to help give the hosts an early lead.

Like Florence, the Lady Trojans are a youthful group with freshmen Harper Anderson and her twin sister Evie, Audrey Williams and Aubrey Waara-Shamion and sophomore Khali Woollard in the main rotation. And with such young players, Bjork is tasked with helping those athletes develop while trying to keep their confidence up during the difficult times.

“It’s going to get there; we just need to keep them positive,” Bjork said. “We’re trying to get more of a transition offense-type team where we’re pushing it up the floor, but we didn’t get a lot of that tonight. So we’ve got to keep plugging away at that. It’s staying with it and saying positive as we develop that stuff.”

The LadyCats pushed their lead to 13 to begin the third quarter on a triple by Millan and a putback by Sullivan. Forest Park then got buckets from Harper Anderson and Elsie Williams to cut the gap to nine, but Millan and VanDenHeuvel answered with hoops of their own to give Florence a 34-21 lead with 4:41 remaining in the third.

About 2½ minutes later, Kaidince Woollard knocked down a 3-pointer. Then with 0.8 seconds remaining in the period, Woollard produced what may be the shot of the year when she took an inbounds pass at three-quarters court and launched a one-handed heave that hit nothing but net.

For a rather small player to fire the ball that far and then to have it be perfectly on target was a remarkable thing to see.

“That was incredible,” Bjork said laughing. “I yelled, ‘Catch it and throw it’ and she caught it and she chucked it. And it was arching right to the basket. She’s a softball player; she lifts (weights) and does all the things to make herself stronger. And that was impressive.”

To their credit, the LadyCats didn’t let the wild sequence get to them. Chrisman and VanDenHeuvel split two free throws each before Ashley Peterson registered consecutive buckets as Florence reestablished a 10-point edge with 5:53 left.

It was the last field goal of the night for the LadyCats, who shot free throws for the remainder of the game. Though they sank just 7 of 22 from the stripe over the final minutes, the LadyCats stayed in front.

Forest Park’s last push, a 3-pointer and a driving bank shot by Elsie Williams sliced the Florence lead to 46-41 with 44 seconds left, but VanDenHeuvel blocked Kaidince Woollard’s 3-point attempt with less than 30 seconds remaining to seal the victory.

“It’s a great win,” coach Johnson said. “Forest Park is always a difficult opponent in whatever sport you play. They’re not just going to give it to you, especially on their home court,

“So we asked a lot out of younger players and some veteran players without Kamdan in the mix. Kudos to our girls that stepped up. They knew they had to and they did when they needed to.”

SCORING

FLORENCE – Chrisman 3 2-7 8, Novak 0 2-2 2, Mills 2 3-7 8, Peterson 3 1-2 7, VanDenHeuvel 4 5-12 13, Millan 2 0-2 5, Sullivan 1 2-4 4. Totals: 15 15-36 47. 3-pointers: 2 (Mills, Millan).

FOREST PARK – A. Williams 3 0-0 9. E. Williams 4 7-8 16, Ka. Woollard 3 1-3 9, E. Anderson 2 0-0 5, H. Anderson 1 0-0 2, Waara-Shamion 0 1-2 1. Totals: 13 9-13 41. 3-pointers: A. Williams 2, Ka. Woollard 2, E. Williams, E. Anderson).

LADY BADGERS 59, NORDICS 40

NIAGARA, Wis. — Senior Mallory Sanicki scored 21 points to lead the Niagara girls varsity basketball team over North Dickinson on Tuesday in Niagara, Wis.

The Nordics (4-4, 1-1) struggled to get their offense going in the first half, and the Lady Badgers (7-5, 3-4) took advantage. Mallory Sanicki scored 10 points in the frame, Bristol Sanicki added seven, and Alivia Kleikamp pitched in four. Aunika Lindholm led North Dickinson with six points. However, it trailed 35-16 at halftime.

Lauren Jungwirth, Raina Ledzian, and Alyson Steinbrecher led the Nordics in the second half. Jungwirth made a 3-pointer and scored nine points in the frame, while Ledzian scored seven points and Steinbrecher made two 3-point shots.

Despite a strong offensive output in the second half, North Dickinson didn’t have an answer for Mallory Sanicki. She scored 11 points in the frame and pushed Niagara to the 59-40 non-conference win.

Niagara ended the game shooting 15 for 23 from the charity stripe, while North Dickinson went 0 for 2.

The Lady Badgers also received contributions from Bristol Sanicki (11 points), Kleikamp (12 points), Peyton Neuens-Allred (7 points), Sydney Swanson (3 points) and Rachael Walker (5 points).

Jungwirth led the Nordics with 11 points. They also received contributions from Ledzian (10 points), Steinbrecher (9 points), Aspen Anderson (2 points), Aubrey Applekamp (2 points) and Lindholm (6 points).

Niagara returned to conference play on Thursday at home against Oneida Nation. Its next game is against the Tigers on Jan. 17 in Gillett, Wis. North Dickinson returns to Carl F. Lemin Gymnasium today for a non-conference clash with Rock/Mid-Peninsula.

Daily News sports editor Sean Chase contributed to this report.