CRYSTAL FALLS — Down by 7-0 just 3½ minutes into their opening round MHSAA District 99 game against North Central on Monday night, the Forest Park Lady Trojans turned to a full-court trapping defense to fight out of their early doldrums.

The strategy worked wonderfully.

For the next three quarters, the young Jets struggled mightily against the pressure, which allowed the equally young Lady Trojans to come back and control the game on their way to a 47-32 victory at Eddie Chambers Gymnasium.

With the win, the Lady Trojans (12-11) advance to the semifinal round where they will host Norway (13-9) on Wednesday. The Knights had a bye into the semifinals.

In Monday’s victory, Forest Park’s aggressive defense helped force North Central into 40 turnovers, which led to some vitally needed transition buckets.

“(North Central) didn’t miss too many shots to start the game so we put some pressure on and I think that gave us some confidence and it kind of generated some offense for us so we could get back in the game,” FP coach Kim Bjork said.

“It was the first game of the tournament for us and we’re young and we were a little bit tight.”

Both teams featured very young lineups. The Lady Trojans started three freshmen — Harper Anderson, Audrey Williams and Aubrey Waara-Shamion — while the Jets started freshmen Addison Otradovec and Natalie Willa.

Furthermore, Forest Park brought freshman Evie Anderson and sophomore Khali Woollard off the bench, while North Central gave eighth-grader Autumn Triest some quality minutes.

Not surprisingly, it was an upperclassman who controlled the first quarter. North Central junior post Dalyn Otradovec sank four buckets in the first quarter to lead her team to a 14-10 edge.

However after Forest Park’s pressure began to do more and more damage, Otradovec was held to just seven points the rest of the game, all on free throws.

“We don’t have big bodies,” Bjork said of her squad. “I think with our pressure and trapping, they just couldn’t get looks for her.”

After going through their long scoreless stretch to start the game, the Lady Trojans got 3-pointers from Harper Anderson and Kaidince Woollard.

Woollard and Elsie Williams added a layup each to keep their team close heading into the second period.

Four minutes into the second quarter, Harper Anderson drilled a triple to pull her team into an 18-18 tie. Williams followed with a baseline jumper before her younger sister Audrey nailed a 3-pointer to put the Lady Trojans up 23-19.

That hoop signaled the beginning of the end for the Jets.

Not that it was an easy go for Forest Park offensively. Facing North Central’s 1-2-2 zone, the Lady Trojans fired 33 3-point shots and connected on just seven (21 percent).

“We’re more of an inside out where we’re going to shoot a lot of outside shots,” Bjork said.

Nevertheless, the Lady Trojans started the third quarter with driving buckets from Elsie Williams and Woollard and a short follow-up by Waara-Shamion.

Meanwhile, the Jets came up empty until the 4:23 mark of the period, by which time they trailed by 10.

North Central finished with 14 turnovers in the third quarter which led to a 14-point deficit heading into the fourth.

The Lady Trojans held their lead in the fourth quarter to survive and advance.

“We were resilient in getting through it,” Bjork said. “I’m glad we had this game because now we don’t have to be so uptight so it was good to get that first win.”

Elsie Williams led a balanced Forest Park attack with 10 points. Woollard added nine, Audrey Williams contributed eight and Harper Anderson chipped in with six.

Elsie Williams added nine steals and four rebounds, while Audrey posted six steals, four assists and four rebounds.

Other than Dalyn Otradovec’s output, North Central received six points from Triest and five from Addison Otradovec.

The Lady Trojans now turn their attention to the Knights. The teams split their regular-season encounters with Forest Park taking the first game 55-50 on Dec. 5 in Crystal Falls and the Knights getting their revenge with a 61-42 victory Feb. 17 in Norway.

Both teams will enter the contest on winning streaks.

The Lady Trojans bring a 3-gamer into the battle while the Knights have won five straight games and seven of their last eight.

“Going into Wednesday, on paper we’re the underdog,” Bjork said. “But if we can get out and shoot well, put some good defense on them, make (top scorer) Lauren (Adams) really have to work for her points, we have a really good chance.”

SCORING

NORTH CENTRAL – D. Otradovec 4 7-9 15, Linder 1 1-2 3, Murray 1 0-0 3, A. Otradovec 2 1-5 5, Triest 2 2-3 6. Totals: 10 11-19 32. Three-pointers: 1 (Murray). Turnovers: 40.

FOREST PARK – H. Anderson 2 0-0 6, Ka. Woollard 4 0-0 9, E. Williams 5 0-2 10, Sarder 1 0-0 3, E. Anderson 2 0-0 4, A. Williams 3 0-3 8, Waara-Shamion 2 0-0 5, Wagner 1 0-0 2. Totals: 20 0-5 47. Three-pointers: 7 (H. Anderson 2, A. Williams 2, Ka. Woollard, Sarder, Waara-Shamion). Turnovers: 17.