Intense full-court pressure and manic fastbreaks by the Seminoles had them pumping in the points in a decisive third quarter which Monroe Central won 23-4.

“I felt like in the second half we started finishing and making some of our shots,” Monroe Central head coach Troy Baker said. “In the first half, we were doing things correctly but we weren’t making shots.

“When you’re making shots, everything seems to go a little bit better for you, you get a little faster, you get after it a little bit more when shots are going in. That was really what I felt like the big difference was- and we did a little bit better of a job at getting in front of their best ball handler Kaci Tsoras.”

Shadyside had 10 turnovers in the third quarter while on the other end the Seminoles were getting to the rim early and often.

“They blew it open in the third quarter with their pressure,” Shadyside head coach Serge Gentile said. “They got to us early in the first quarter, we were able to kind of get it under control in the second quarter and break it. But in the third quarter, it was too much for us to handle.

“They did a really good job getting on the run and pushing the lead out. We couldn’t recover.”

Mayzie Emery recorded three assists in the third quarter, which featured a smooth pick-and-roll feed to Zoey McGarry and a hot-potato bounce pass into the paint, also to McGarry.

“I thought we played with a little bit more effort there in the second half than the first half,” Baker said.

Monroe Central got four players into double figures Thursday. Brylee McFrederick led with 12, McGarry had 11 while Emery and Jacey English each had 10. All eight Seminole players scored.

“We’re playing with eight girls, and they all scored,” Baker said. “We had four that were in double digits. I think that helps out everywhere, makes everyone feel like they’re included. It helps on the defensive end, when everybody’s scoring, they’re all more involved on defense too.”

English finished with 10 steals and four assists to boot. McFrederick led in her team’s rebounding column with six boards.

Giovanna Hines led Shadyside with 14 points.

Monroe Central next faces Caldwell at home on Jan. 6. Shadyside travels to Frontier on Jan. 4.