St. Charles North likes to play with a punch-first mentality.

Whether it’s through a commanding offensive presence, or causing havoc with their full-court press, the North Stars always try to use it as a way to put the pressure on their opponents.

And when facing off against a Batavia team Friday they had lost six straight games against, both of those factors came into play early in the contest.

The North Stars used a quick start on both offense and defense to build up a 17-point lead by the end of the first quarter, one they would not falter for the rest of the contest to get a 48-27 victory over the Bulldogs.

“We found some things at the beginning of the game that we thought were going to be successful, and what we saw was what we thought we would get,” said North Stars coach Grant Oler, who celebrated his first home victory as a head coach with the win. “When the offense pairs with the defense the way that it did, it looks like so much fun, and it was just one of those nights.”

The North Stars (9-0 overall, 3-0 DuKane) were helped by a 16-0 run over a 5:30 span in the first quarter. During that span, junior Bronwyn How scored 10 of her game-high 14 points using a boisterous presence in the post.

And after getting the game-winning shot against Lake Zurich in the previous contest, How said she definitely felt the confidence carry over into the contest.

“Once you see that first shot fall, it’s a lot easier to have that confidence and keep that confidence moving forward,” How said. “And especially after that first few shots, we kept that momentum going.”

The run was also aided by plenty of defensive stops thanks to the full-court press. The North Stars had nine of their 18 steals come in the first quarter, which they finished leading 21-4.

“We’ve always been a team that’s always prided ourselves on defense especially when our shots aren’t falling or not getting the looks that we want,” said senior Riley Barber, who finished with a team-high six steals. “Our defense is always going to be there night in and night out. And I think that establishing our defense early is what brought our momentum and getting a bunch of steals flows with our offense.”

After establishing the lead, the North Stars focused on shooting from outside of the paint. Junior Lelanie Posada finished with 13 points, with senior Sydney Johnson right behind with nine.

“We’re really lucky that we have a good post presence, but then also have full confidence in our shooters as well,” How said. “You have to pick with us, and it’s going to be one of our nights no matter what.”

The deficit the Bulldogs (2-7, 1-2) faced after the first quarter proved to be too much for them to come back from. By the end of the first half, they only had 10 points to their name.

“It was just blitz to surly, and it took us the first two quarters to get over being shellshocked,” Bulldogs coach Kevin Jensen said. “Then we were just in a hole where we just wanted to get out of there and try and get some positives out of it.”

Jensen felt that there were a few positives from the game at the end. Sophomore Sammie Donahue and senior Ali Thomas finished with seven points, while senior Eva Holzl drained two 3-pointers in the second half.

“Where we’re not young grade wise, we’re young experience wise, but we’re also still young grade wise as well,” Jensen said. “We’re just continuing to teach them the best we can, and we’re just reminding them that we’re still getting ready for mid-to-late February.”