Even though Ottawa’s girls basketball team tended to start quarters by scoring points in bunches Saturday afternoon in a 44-41 Interstate Eight Conference win against Morris, it was the defense for the Lady Pirates that was the impetus for their scoring stretches.

Ottawa (11-7, 3-3) went on its first scoring run in the latter stages of the first quarter. The Pirates led 5-4 before Mary Stisser scored on a putback before Kennedy Kane (10 points) hit a 3-pointer and then converted a steal into a layup. Ashlynn Ganiere (8 points) made a free throw to make it 13-4 at the end of the quarter.

“We like to use our defense to get out in transition,” Kane said. “Mary [Stisser] and Ash [Ganiere] do a great job of spreading the ball around in our offense.

“Today, we really wanted to put a lot of pressure when the ball was outside so they couldn’t get it into their big girl [Lily Hansen]. We were able to pressure the ball and keep them from getting it to her.”

The Pirates got baskets from Hailey Thrush (team-high 12 points) and Kane to start the second quarter and take a 17-4 lead before Morris (5-15, 2-4) began to close the gap. They went on a 14-5 run of their own to end the second quarter and cut the lead to 22-18 at halftime. Hansen, who also had a game-high 14 rebounds, scored eight of her game-high 21 points in the run.

Ottawa’s shooting was hot to start the second half, as Thrush and Ganiere hit back-to-back 3-pointers and Thrush scored on a short jumper to move the Pirates to a 30-18 lead. Once again, Morris had an answer, outscoring Ottawa 16-6 the rest of the quarter to pull to within 36-34 entering the fourth. Hansen had seven points, including a three-point play, in the stretch, while Cami Pfeifer scored five.

“We’ve been doing that a lot lately,” Morris coach Mike Lutz said about falling behind and fighting back. “One of these games, we are going to get over that hump. We have been coming back and making it close, but we haven’t been able to get the lead. One thing I will never fault our girls on is their effort.

“They always work hard and they are becoming more comfortable in their roles. I told them that we have 12 games left and I am considering that a new season. We’re 0-0 right now and we want to get over that hump the rest of the way.”

Defense took over on both sides in the fourth quarter. The first points of the period came on a pair of free throws by Ganiere with 4:57 to play. That was soon followed by a 3-pointer from Kane to put the Pirates ahead 41-34. Morris answered with a fast-break layup by Pfeifer, who was fouled and completed the three-point play. Hansen then made a pair of free throws with 2:30 remaining to make it 41-39. Stisser hit a pair of free throws with 51.5 left to make it 43-39. Hansen scored for Morris, but Stisser made a free throw and a Morris 3-point attempt at the buzzer came up short.

“Our defense took us home in the fourth quarter,” Ottawa coach Brent Moore said. “We did a better job with ball movement and taking better angles in the second half. The best 3-pointer is from the outside in, and Hailey Thrush hit one of those late for us that was big.

“Morris definitely made us earn this one. It’s never easy to win on the road in our conference, and Morris is very well-coached, they are prepared and play hard.”