Despite her soft-spoken style, Cary-Grove‘s Malaina Kurth has a way of making herself known.

The 5-foot-7 guard has picked up her scoring in her senior season, and her Trojans teammates have followed her lead.

“She’s always had the ability to be a big scorer,” said Trojans first-year coach Bryan Stortz, “but one of the things she’s done extremely well that has maybe gone unnoticed more than anything is she’s extremely confident and a quiet leader.

“She doesn’t have to say a heck of a whole lot, but she encourages other kids, and people look up to her and the way that she approaches things. She doesn’t get too or too low. Just an unbelievable person.”

Kurth helped spark a fast start for C-G on Friday night against Hampshire and ended with a game-high 20 points as the Trojans defeated the Whip-Purs 64-39 for the team’s seventh win in a row.

“Just working together and the communication between players and listening to our coaches has been key to our success,” Kurth said. “(The coaches) are holding us to a high standard, and expectations are higher. We’ve got to meet those expectations so we don’t get yelled at as much.”

Cary-Grove (11-4, 4-2 FVC) had a big opening quarter to take a 21-16 lead over Hampshire (9-10, 4-3) with Kurth and senior forward Olivia Leuze tossing in eight points apiece. Senior Kennedy Manning ended the first quarter with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer, and the Trojans shot a blistering 75% (9 of 12) from the field.

Kurth, who added five rebounds and three steals, hit two of her game-high three 3s in the first quarter, shooting 3 of 3 from the field. The 6-1 Leuze, meanwhile, made 4 of 5 shots in the quarter.

Eight different Trojans scored in the victory.

“We have some girls that might not get the highlights of scoring every night, but they’re unbelievable defenders,” Stortz said. “And we have other girls who go out there and distribute the basketball. I think all of them are starting to understand how to play together.

“It’s a really great group that’s starting to learn how to be a good basketball team.”

Leuze finished with 10 points and six rebounds, while Manning, the Trojans’ 5-7 point guard, recorded 16 points, seven rebounds and three assists. Sophomore Jayden Sopata-Rahn came off the bench and knocked down a pair of 3s for six points.

Cary-Grove took a 50-36 lead into the fourth quarter and didn’t hold back, outscoring Hampshire 14-3 over the final eight minutes.

Senior Aria Stanton (five points) and juniors Avery Hoffman (two points, four rebounds) and Ava Santucci (four assists, two steals), despite C-G’s healthy lead, continued to hustle after loose balls that led to a few fast-break opportunities for the Trojans late.

“That’s our motto,” Manning said. “Our ball, our way. Try as hard as you can all the time.”

Hampshire coach Eric Samuelson had high praise for both Manning and Leuze.

“I am so impressed with Kennedy Manning,” Samuelson said. “Those one-handed passes and her ability to control the floor, everything she did, she’s just a really good basketball player. ... (Leuze) changed the tempo of what we had to do. They were making a lot of 3s, so we had to get out on the 3s, but we had to make sure that she didn’t go to work.”

Hampshire was led by guard Mikala Amegasse with 13 points, 11 in the first half. The senior also chipped in four steals, two assists, a block and six rebounds. Sophomore Jiselle Lopez had 11 points, including two 3s, adding two steals and two assists. Junior Peyton McCarthy finished with nine points.

Samuelson felt his team never gave up despite the final score.

“The effort was there, the bench energy was there. I don’t know if we got beat tonight,” Samuelson said. “When you get beat, you give up and don’t play together, and I didn’t see that at all. I think they’re really good. They’ve got to be a regional championship-type level team the way they’re looking.”