MINERVA – The Indian Creek girls’ basketball team got off to a sluggish start on the offensive end against Minerva, however, the Redskins were in midseason form on the defensive end.

The Redskins clamped down on the Lions as Indian Creek limited Minerva to just one point in the second quarter en route to a 47-21 victory in its season opener Tuesday night on the road.

“I was really happy with our defense,” Indian Creek (1-0) head coach Steve Eft said. “I was concerned about our defense. Our defense stepped up when we got off to a slow start on offense. Minerva is quick. They are physical. They can put pressure on your defense. I don’t know if it was first game jitters or rust why we got off to a slow start on offense, but then we settled down in the second quarter and did a good job on offense.”

The game was scoreless for nearly three minutes before Riley Sadler drained a pair of free throws to give the visitors a 2-0 lead with 5:06 left to play in the first. The hosts finally got on the scoreboard with a basket with 3:43 left in the quarter, and the girls in red countered with their first field goal on their next possession to regain the lead.

The girls in white tallied the next basket to once again even the score before the girls from Jefferson County collected the final two buckets of the quarter to take an 8-4 lead.

The Red-and-Gold then tallied the first 12 points of the second before taking a 22-5 lead into the locker room at halftime.

“I think the girls settled down,” Eft said. “You can’t replicate the speed of the game of your first game at practice. We were a little rusty. We were out of sync in the first quarter. We just could not make shots. We weren’t taking bad shots, but we weren’t making them.

“In the second quarter, we settled down. We ran our offense. We were in control. We took good shots, and we were making them.”

Indian Creek built a 20-point (28-8) advantage in the third forcing the home team to call a timeout. A 3-pointer at the buzzer gave the victors a 37-13 lead heading into the fourth.

The Redskins led by as many as 29 points (44-15) following a 3-pointer on their way to a 24-point victory.

Kaydence Walker recorded a game-high 17 points to lead the way offensively for Indian Creek, while Saddler tallied seven.

Rachel Benedict collected a team-high seven points for the Lions, while Ivey Rettig contributed six.

“It is always good to start the season at 1-0,” Eft said. “This is not an easy place to play at. They play hard. They’re physical. Josh (Morckel) does a very-good job with them.

“This is a good win for us. We played some of our younger girls. They were able to get good minutes out on the court. We’re trying to build up our depth this season. It was a good night for us. I’m happy that we were able to come away with the win.”

The loss dropped the Lions to 0-2 on the season. Minerva dropped its opener to Sandy Valley, 50-42, Friday night on the road.

“They already played one game, so we were able to scout them,” Eft said. “I thought they would press us a little more than what they did. We prepared all week for this game. We practiced all week for this game. Our kids knew the gameplan, and they went out and executed it.”

The Redskins defeated the Lions, 55-30, last season in a Saturday afternoon game Feb. 1 at home on Coach D Court.

Indian Creek is scheduled to take on county rival Buckeye Local in a varsity-only game at 6 p.m. Monday night on the road.

Minerva is slated to play West Branch Wednesday on the road.

Indian Creek 47, Minerva 21

Indian Creek 8 14 15 10 – 47

Minerva 4 1 8 8 – 21

INDIAN CREEK (1-0): Walker 6 5-10 17, Taylor 2 0-0 6, Wiley 2 0-0 4, Sadler 2 3-3 7, Klinesmith 2 1-2 6, Cozart 0 0-0 0, Miller 0 0-0 0, Flesher 0 0-0 0, Leach 1 0-0 3, Crouch 1 0-0 2, Florczak 0 2-2 2. TOTALS: 16 11-17 47.

MINERVA (0-2): K. Lippincott 0 0-0 0, Kirkpatrick 0 1-2 1, Shick 1 0-0 3, Catlett 0 1-2 1, Rettig 3 1-5 6, Beaumariage 1 0-0 3, Burick 0 0-2 0, Morckel 0 0-4 0, Bendict2 3-6 7. TOTALS: 7 6-21 21.

3-POINTERS: Indian Creek 4 (Taylor 2, Klinesmith, Leach); Minerva 2 (Shick, Beaumariage)