Shelby Fransee lines up a shot during Hale's victory over Oscoda on Monday.
The Owls' Abby Samotis scored a career-high 13 points at Hale.
Brent Baker
Hale's Terra Kelso gets fouled on her way to the basket during the Eagles' victory over Hale on Monday.

HALE - Jan. 28, 2008 - Hale's high-pressure defense has been keeping the Eagles girls basketball team in games lately.

On Monday it finally paid off with a win as the Eagles defeated Oscoda 62-43, mostly due to Hale's ability to wear down an Owls squad that was still in the game in the third quarter.

"Our pressure defense is coming around," said Hale coach Joe Kimmerer. "We still are having some trouble with our rotations and staying in position. We like to scramble at times when it hurts us.

"We were lucky Oscoda missed their layups in the first half or it would have been a different game."

Indeed, the Owls did managed to break through Hale's defense quite often in the first half, but couldn't finish the deal with points. Hale led 25-14 at the half, but Oscoda started chipping away with a couple of inside hoops from Margaret Negro and a Heather Patterson layup.

But the Eagles' relentless pressure started taking its toll; before long they were forcing turnovers, which led to a lightning-quick 19-7 run that broke open a 27-20 game.

"Hale really came to play," said Oscoda coach Chris Manick. "They're improved a lot since the first time we met (a 50-44 Hale win). They hustled and they were aggressive.

"It's kind of been one step forward, two steps back for us. Take nothing away from Hale, though. They played well, and (Tarra Caverly) is just a great player."

Caverly scored from everywhere on the floor -- at the back end of pressure-induced layups, or 3-pointers in Hale's half-court offensive sets.  She finished with 26 points, her fifth time in her seven outings over 20. Kassie Johnson added 12 points.

Abby Samotis scored a career-high 13 points for the Owls (2-13) and Margaret Negro added 12.

Hale (5-9) faces the biggest test of its recent defensive prowess on Thursday, traveling to play league-leading Fairview.

"They're very sound," Kimmerer said. "We'll have to be more disciplined. Hopefully we can play sound defense, and let them make the bad decisions."