BROSELEY -- Smaller and quicker, the Lady Royals dialed up their pressure.
Twin Rivers' relentless press steadily wore down Portageville and the Royals went on to win 53-37 on Monday.
"They handled it pretty well in the beginning, but then when they started getting tired and it started working out," said Twin Rivers' Katelyn South, who led the team with 15 points along with Brooke Blume. "We could get our hands on passes and we could stop them before they got to the bucket."
Twin Rivers (2-0), ahead by three after the first quarter, opened the second on an 8-2 run and led by 13 at halftime.
Blume opened the second quarter with a 3, the Royals' only one in the game. Kate Baxter, who had 11 points, followed with a bucket and another easy basket off a successful inbounds play, and South added a free throw.
After a halftime breather, the Royals amped up the pressure again.
Portageville (1-2), which avoided turnovers in the first quarter but failed to get transition buckets, opened with a 3 by Dasmine Johnson and was down by 10 with 6 minutes left in the third quarter, but didn't score again until the start of the fourth.
"Earlier in the season we had our press backed way up and Coach told us to get up this game. We weren't really in the flow of that yet, and by the end of the game I think we got in the flow of that a lot better," South said.
The Royals closed the third quarter with 11 straight points, including six from Blume, and led by 21 going into the fourth.
Twin Rivers outscored Portageville 29-11 in the middle two quarters.
"I know our team, we have a lot of subs on the bench. We can stay fresh and not get tired. The other team had like six players they were subbing in and out, and they got tired while we kept our momentum up," South said. "Getting steals and fast breaks are our strongest points right now."
Blume and South each had nine of their 15 points in the middle two quarters.
"I thought my girls communicated well. I'm really trying to get these seniors to take ownership of this team, to communicate, make changes, come up with ideas, because we have a couple girls who are really capable of putting some big points up. I know people are going to be keying in on them," Twin Rivers coach Kelly Westerfield said. "At the beginning they were keying in on Brooke and South, and (Catey Hester) started off the game scoring buckets. That's what I ask of them. Be smart and don't let people do something to take you out of your game. Always fight back."
Hester finished with 10 points and seven rebounds on 6-for-10 shooting, missing a pair of 3-point attempts.
"They didn't get a safety back real quick and we've got a couple girls who can get up and down the floor. Hester is excellent at going and getting the outlet passes and starting off with her dribble and seeing people," Westerfield said. "She was everywhere tonight. Defensively, offensively, she's in there blocking out post players. She's blocking shots. She's diving on balls, (Hester) had a great game."
While Twin Rivers has lots of numbers and dresses a deep bench, only five players scored Monday including four in double figures. Katie Deken had a bucket to start the fourth quarter.
"We were a little fatigued. I have a big bench of kids over here; they just aren't super experienced yet. I'm trying to work them in here and there, so we can get the experience and we can go deeper. It is just not happening yet. We're only in game two. It is not their fault; it is just the stage we are in," Westerfield said.
Deondra Johnson led Portageville with 15 points. The forward had 11 points in the first half. Selinah Taylor added 11 points after getting seven in the fourth quarter.