Staff photo by Travis Rosenau Sleepy Eye St. Marys’ Allie Labat drives to the hoop while guarded by Cedar Mountain’s Teresa Larsen (30) and Aubrey Steffl (2) during a Tomahawk Conference girls basketball game on Monday night at Cedar Mountain High School in Morgan.

MORGAN — After tightening things up defensively and finding a rhythm on offense late in the first half, Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s ended up rolling to a 78-49 win over Cedar Mountain in a Tomahawk Conference girls basketball game Monday at Cedar Mountain High School.

While eighth-grader Morgan Mathiowetz led the Knights in the first half with 13 points, it was the seniors getting things done for the Knights in the second half to help pull away for the win.

Senior Liz Schwint finished with 21 points, 10 rebounds and three assists. Senior guard Allie Labat also finished with 21 points for the Knights while adding five rebounds and two steals.

“I think our offense picked up in the second half,” Labat said. “We had a lot more ball movement as a team and we worked together on offense very well. And our defense picked up, too, we didn’t let them in the lane as much.”

Despite that senior leadership being key for the Knights in the second half, Mathiowetz still finished with 18 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Sophomore forward Amelia Schwartz added 11 rebounds and 8 points, while freshman Natalie Fischer added 6 points.

The Cougars also saw an eighth-grader take charge in the first half in Aubrey Steffl, who led the team with 11 first-half points. She ended with a team-high 21 points, while seniors Teresa Larsen and Paige Rose each added 10 points.

Trailing 9-6 after a bucket from Schwint, the Cougars put together a 6-0 run to take their first lead of the game. The run featured buckets in the paint from Kenadi Heiling, Rose and Steffl.

Unfortunately for the Cougars, a pair of free throws and a driving finish on the left by Mathiowetz gave the Knights the lead back at 13-12, a lead they never relinquished from there out.

The Knights added to those points for a 9-0 run and an 18-12 lead.

An and-one by Larsen had the Cougars down 20-17 before Mathiowetz answered with a layup. Steffl then drained a 3 to have the Cougars down 22-20.

A strong start to the first half for the Cougars saw a rough finish for them as Labat scored inside to give the Knights a 34-28 lead. A five-second inbound violation right after that bucket gave the Knights the ball back, and Schwint promptly converted on an and-one to give the Knights a 37-28 halftime lead.

“We played Springfield the other night and it was single-digit turnovers,” Cougars head coach Joel Christianson said. “Then we played GFW and I think we were back up to 25. Sometimes it’s the turnovers that are more the mental — I like the turnovers that are more aggressive, the offensive fouls or you get it inside. But the unforced turnovers are probably the ones that hurt us the most.”

Labat got the Knights energized right away in the second half with a steal for a layup and a 39-28 lead. Schwint then found Fischer inside for a 41-28 St. Mary’s lead.

Larsen sank a pair of free throws, but Schwint canned a jumper near the top of the key and Schwartz scored inside to push the Knights’ lead to 16, 45-29.

After Cedar Mountain cut its deficit to 13 on a free throw from Ellarie Blomeke, the Knights increased their lead 57-34 after a 10-0 run. A 3 by Kiara Murphy off the bench gave the Knights their largest lead of the game, 78-46, in the closing minutes.

Despite things getting away from the Cougars in the second half, Christianson said the loss was not due to any lack of effort.

“We were executing well on offense,” Christianson said. “For one of the few times, we actually had the patience where it wasn’t the first one, it was the third, fourth or fifth person attacking the basket that we were running really well.

“Our girls compete, and it’s not an effort thing with us … I don’t see one game that we shouldn’t compete in for the rest of the year. We’ve just got to get over that hump where — lose by 2, lose by 9 — and just a couple of little things that can swing a game. We’re close, we’ve just got to finish or play the whole game.”

The Knights, who extended their winning streak to six games after Monday’s win, are building momentum at a good time heading into the final month of the regular season.

But they’re still taking things one game at a time.

“We don’t like to get too confident,” Labat said. “Beating [Sleepy Eye] Public was really exciting, but we like to keep to ourselves and keep working hard because no matter what, every team is going to come out and play.”

The Knights (13-4, 8-3) are at Wabasso on Tuesday night, while the Cougars (5-12, 3-8) hit the road to take on Red Rock Central in Lamberton on Tuesday night.