Forest Park junior Elsie Williams (14) splits the Knights’ defense for a layup while Norway junior Paytan Carlson (23) defends on Monday. (Terry Raiche photo)

NORWAY — Early in the season, the Norway girls varsity basketball struggled to get its offense going.

It has figured that problem out and it showed on Monday as the Knights (10-9, 5-2) picked up a 61-42 Skyline Central Conference victory over Forest Park (9-11, 2-4) in Norway.

“We played a lot better than the first time we saw this team in December,” Norway head coach Brian Adams said. “That’s one of the things that you look for as a coach, you want to be better at the end than you were at the beginning of the season. When you play these teams that you played early in the year and you do what you do the second time you see them, you get signs they’re doing exactly what you wanted them to do.

“I’m happy with that and I’m happy with the way that we played. We just have to keep playing hard. I’m proud of the girls.”

Although the Lady Trojans had a lot of good looks at the basket, they couldn’t convert which ultimately doomed them in the end.

“We didn’t shoot well and they shot really well in the first half,” Forest Park head coach Kim Bjork said. “They were like 70% from 3-point range. We had a lot of looks, layups, we just didn’t finish.

“We did make some good effort plays at times. Overall, I thought we took care of the ball better, but there are little things we need to do better. We’re setting ball screens and we’re not rolling off of them. If we do that, it will open up more things inside.”

While it’s hard to take positives away from a loss, the Lady Trojans’ effort was obvious to everyone in the gym, especially that of Khali Woollard. For coach Adams, he wants to see his team add that to its tool bag as the postseason approaches.

“Intensity,” coach Adams said. “It’s one of the biggest things that I’ve talked about, one thing about this Forest Park team and especially the North Dickinson team, is how hard they play. For four quarters, they don’t stop. You can’t breathe.

“You have to match how hard you go with how hard they go. We’ve got to box out those types of players, and then we’ve got to be those types of players. That will be a point of emphasis for sure.”

The Knights adjusted their press defense in the first quarter and it paid dividends.

“Earlier in the year, we were playing that same press but we had it back,” coach Adams said. “That was making them comfortable on the inbounds pass. They were able to survey what they wanted to do and they did a nice job. This time, we wanted to get on that first pass.

“I didn’t care if the girl caught the first pass, but I wanted her trapped. Which speeds up her clock and it leads to more turnovers. I thought it worked well tonight and against Bark River.”

Forest Park scored the first point on a free throw. Then Norway went on a 10-0 run with Lauren Adams pitching in five points. Jessa Rossler added three points and the Knights took a 16-8 advantage into the second.

Norway caught fire from deep in the next frame. It made four 3-pointers and increased its lead to 16 points at halftime.

“The way we came out in the second half, I thought, ‘Ohh, we might turn this around,'” Bjork said. “We basically just told them, ‘they’re hitting 70% from three, they can’t continue that for the rest of the game and we’re not making shots. So keep shooting, we have to shoot our way out of this.'”

The Lady Trojans listened to Bjork and opened the third quarter on a roll, going on a five-point run. Kaidince Woollard and Elsie Williams each scored in the run.

However, Lauren Adams answered to stop the run shortly after it started. She had six points in the quarter.

“She did a lot for us like she always does,” coach Adams said.

While Forest Park was trying to rally with 3-point shots down the stretch, Bjork wants to see them make adjustments.

“We shoot a lot from inside, but we need to get a post game established as well,” Bjork said.

Lauren Adams scored nine points in the final frame to secure the win for Norway.

She led all scorers in the contest with 29 points.

While the Knights have figured out their offensive woes, they still struggle to clean the glass.

“We’ve got to do a better job rebounding,” coach Adams added. “That would be my biggest complaint tonight. We get outrebounded by teams with size and I understand that, because we lack size. But, when we play a team like this that lacks size like we lack size, we can’t be getting killed on the boards.”

Norway received contributions from Abby Richter (7 points), Mary Cavagnetto (5 points), Rossler (8 points), Paytan Carlson (3 points), Kara Stanchina (5 points) and Lila Kleikamp (4 points).

Forest Park received contributions from Harper Anderson (4 points), Kaidince Woollard (2 points), Audrey Williams (7 points), Elsie Williams (15 points), Khali Woollard (5 points), Aubrey Waara-Shamion (6 points) and Lennon Shaddox (3 points).

The Knights are back home on Friday against Rapid River while the Lady Trojans are in Bark River on Thursday.

LADYCATS 54, EAGLES 34

FLORENCE, Wis. — With the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association postseason tournament right around the corner, the Florence girls varsity basketball team is locked in.

On Monday, senior Kamdan Johnson propelled the LadyCats (14-8, 4-3) to a 54-34 non-conference home win over Suring (11-11, 4-10).

Florence’s offense was on fire in the first half. Five players recorded points in the frame, with Naomi Millan tallying eight. Johnson scored seven points, Kelsi Chrisman added six and the LadyCats led 27-18 at the break.

Johnson took over the Florence offense in the second half. She scored 13 points in 18 minutes. The Eagles recorded 17 points in the same span and ultimately fell to the LadyCats.

Johnson led all scorers in the contest with 20 points.

Florence also received contributions from CeCe Mills (4 points), Millan (11 points), Miley VanDenHeuvel (6 points), Chrisman (8 points, 10 rebounds, 7 steals), Abby Novak (1 point) and Bryn Sullivan (4 points).

The LadyCats wrap up the regular season on Thursday at home against Northern Lakes Conference foe Crandon. Then it’s onto the WIAA Division 5 playoffs. Florence is a No. 7 seed and will face off with No. 10-seeded Gresham at home on Feb. 25 at 7 p.m.

NORDICS 64, ROCKETS 10

RAPID RIVER — With the outright Skyline Central Conference-Small School title in sight, the North Dickinson girls varsity basketball team made the trip to Rapid River on Monday and handled business.

The Nordics (13-5, 6-1) quickly dispatched the Rockets (3-13, 1-5), 64-10. They have won four games in a row.

“Good team basketball tonight,” North Dickinson head coach Kirk Mattson said. “I thought we played unselfish on offense, passed the ball around, and got really good looks at the hoop. Everyone contributed in one way or another.”

Rapid River struggled with the Nordics’ defensive pressure in the first quarter. North Dickinson took advantage, leaning on junior Raina Ledzian offensively. She tallied eight points in the frame, and the lead was 14-3 entering the second.

Nordics’ sophomore Ava Oman took the reins in the next eight minutes. She scored seven points, while freshman Lauren Jungwirth added six. The lead ballooned to 31-8 at halftime.

The Rockets didn’t score in the third quarter. Over the final two frames, North Dickinson had eight players record a basket. Jungwirth led all scorers with eight points in the second half.

Fresh off a 36-point performance, Jungwirth had a game-high 18 points.

The Nordics also received contributions from Jessica Harwath (5 points), Ledzian (12 points), Hailee Siegler (2 points), Alyson Steinbrecher (6 points), Oman (7 points), Aspen Anderson (6 points), Aubrey Applekamp (4 points) and Aunika Lindholm (4 points).

North Dickinson wraps up SCC play on Thursday at home against Carney-Nadeau. It ends the regular season on Feb. 25 at home against Kingsford.