The Trojans didn’t settle with a considerable halftime lead and cranked up the defensive intensity to eventually steamroll Saydel, 67-24, at West Marshall High School.

Bella Borgos had a season-high 25 points, including seven 3-pointers; Lily Zahnd added 13 points and Shelby Johnston scored 10, with all 10 coming in a runaway second half.

West Marshall led 29-13 at halftime.

“We didn’t think we were playing as hard as we could,” Borgos said. “We were all trying to pump each other up and focus on fixing the little things, like boxing out, rebounding, passing, moving up and down the court, and I think it made an impact.”

T-R PHOTO BY JAKE RYDER - West Marshall senior Avery Evertsen (44) shoots over Saydel’s Lauren Frantz during the second half of Friday’s Heart of Iowa Conference basketball game in State Center.

The Trojans (6-1, 3-1 HOIAC) scored the first 11 points of the third quarter and were up 49-19 after three.

Most of the fourth quarter clock ran off under continuous clock rules, with Johnston, a junior, putting up some close-range buckets to put it well out of reach.

“We knew we were the better team and I just had to ask the girls what their expectations should be as a player and a team at halftime,” Trojan head coach Cody Hackett said. “They came out fired up, ready to go, and were really looking to put them away sooner rather than later.”

Zahnd had a team-leading 12 rebounds and Halle Jones finished with four steals.

“Our offense is going to come along,” Hackett said. “Our identity right now needs to be our team D. We’ve got athletic, aggressive girls and we talked about creating those steals, putting guards in uncomfortable positions. Especially if we get to a game where we struggle to score, we have to put the stops out there on defense.”

Since a 56-44 loss to 3A No. 9 PCM on Dec. 3, the Trojans have won five in a row, including three blowout victories in Heart of Iowa play.

Borgos, a Lincoln (Mo.) University commit, is averaging nearly 20 points per game. Zahnd is close to a double-double on average, scoring nine points and grabbing 12.8 rebounds per contest coming into Friday’s games.

“We’re getting a little overlooked, but that’s OK,” Hackett said. “We’re OK with being the underdog. We’re just going to continue to get better, and our girls are going to continue to come in to each practice and work every day and help each other. We’re fortunate to have depth where we can have nine girls in there to get minutes, that’s something a lot of teams don’t have, and we’re just getting those bench girls more experience.”

The final game of 2024 for the Trojan girls is at South Hamilton on Friday, Dec. 20.

“The girls here all want to reach those big goals,” Borgos said. “Conference champs, go to [state], and I think we want it just hard enough. … There’s going to be some good teams that will double-team me, play up on me, and then we’ll just go with whoever’s hot and make them double-team them instead. But when we hit those good teams, we can’t fold, we’ve gotta stick together like we have been.”

West Marshall 67, Saydel 24

SAYDEL (2-4, 0-4) — Peyton Leydens 0 0-0 0, Lauren Frantz 1 2-8 5, Luella Weispfenning 0 0-2 0, Jordin Royster 0 0-0 0, Paige Rummans 4 2-5 10, Milli Lo 0 0-0 0, Eliana Schuster 3 0-0 9, Jaslene Cardenas 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 8 4-15 24.

WEST MARSHALL (6-1, 3-1) — Olivia Randall 0 0-0 0, Riley Randall 2 0-0 6, Mia Christanson 0 0-0 0, Dalaney Eldridge 0 0-0 0, Bella Borgos 9 0-0 25, Lily Zahnd 6 1-1 13, Kinley Johnston 0 1-2 1, Natalie Nichols 1 1-2 3, Halle Jones 2 0-2 4, Lily Rosedale 0 0-0 0, Avery Evertsen 2 0-0 4, Shelby Johnston 5 0-0 10, Nelle Kemmerer 0 1-2 1. TOTALS 27 4-9 67.

SAYDEL 7 6 6 5 — 24

W. MARSHALL 17 12 20 18 — 67

3-Point Goals–Saydel 4 (Schuster 3, Frantz), WM 9 (Borgos 7, R. Randall 2). Team Fouls–Saydel 9, WM 14. Fouled Out–Rummans.