Early in both halves Monday, Sauk Valley had the answers. But as the game wore on, Malcolm X became a tougher test.

The Hawks used big runs before and after halftime to pull away from the Skyhawks for a 63-42 win in their Arrowhead Conference game in Dixon.

Trailing 36-21 at halftime, Sauk Valley (10-18, 7-4 Arrowhead) came out strong to start the third quarter. Camryn Veltrop and Shelby Veltrop each scored four quick points in the paint to cut the deficit to 38-29 and force a Malcolm X timeout with 6:21 left in the third.

“I think it was just us hustling. We came out in the third quarter ready to fight back, because we knew we could stick with them,” Camryn Veltrop said. “It didn’t stay that way too long, but when we did play defense the way we know we can play defense, we were getting our hands on them, getting deflections, keeping our hands up, just moving around quick, and also talking a lot, just having communication and just all-around playing quicker, just one pass ahead at all times.”

The high-low post game was working well, with one of the Veltrop sisters or point guard Harvest Day lobbing passes over the top to the other one of the Veltrops for layups or short jumpers in the lane.

“I feel like we have been really good this year with our high-low, I feel like that’s one of our biggest strengths. Even going in and out, passing it out to our guards from that high-low, I feel like that works pretty well,” Shelby Veltrop said. “We have a pretty good connection, and teams have a pretty hard time stopping that when we get it inside and go with that high-low action, because sometimes it’s a hard matchup for them. I feel like when we do go that way, we do a pretty good job with that.”

As the Malcolm X defense adjusted to the high-low game, Day started driving to the basket more to either find a layup, create shots for the Veltrops, or kick it out to open shooters.

“I think all of us have the capability to get to the rim, get some easy baskets,” Day said, “and we all can pass the ball pretty well, so I think just knowing when to move the ball and trusting our teammates just to get those easy buckets. That’s how we win basketball games.”

But the Skyhawks struggled from the perimeter, finishing 0 of 8 from deep, and only shot 31.4% (16 of 51) from the field. They also committed 24 turnovers and were outscored 14-2 in second-chance points.

Malcolm X had a 47-35 rebounding advantage and nabbed 22 steals.

“I think the defense gets us to where we need to get to when the offense doesn’t flow,” Malcolm X coach Kim McQuarter said. “Especially as we’re getting toward the latter part of our season, we just try to get more defensive-minded. That’s pretty much how we’ve won our last seven or eight games – but we’ve still got to get better.”

Playing its fourth game in seven days, Malcolm X (17-7, 8-3 Arrowhead) was sluggish at times on offense, but it took control with a pair of spurts.

“I always try to tell the girls that basketball is a game of runs,” Day said. “They’ll have their runs, we have our runs, but we’ve just got to keep our composure throughout all of it. We kind of just have to make their runs a little less and make our runs bigger. I think just bringing more energy and hyping each other up a little bit better would go a long way.”

The Hawks scored the final basket of the first quarter to spark a 22-10 run until halftime, turning a 14-11 lead into a 36-21 margin at the break. They used a 14-4 third-quarter surge to stretch the lead to 52-33.

“Today, maybe a little stagnant, not really getting into the flow of what we’re doing,” McQuarter said. “I’m not sure if it was four games in seven days or whatever, but we definitely need to be more fluent in what we’re doing, what we’re running and what we’re looking for – but we’ll take the win.”

Shelby Veltrop had 18 points, six rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks, and Day finished with 13 points, six rebounds and four assists. Camryn Veltrop added six points, five rebounds, five blocks, three steals and two assists for Sauk.

Nia Allen led a balanced effort for Malcolm X with 13 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals, and Lakayla Hudson added 12 points, eight rebounds, four steals and two assists. Christin Brewer scored 11 points, Kenosha Walker finished with 10 points, 11 rebounds, six steals, four blocks and two assists, and Diara Tolbert chipped in nine points, five rebounds, six steals and two assists.