Staff photo / Dan Hiner Brookfield’s Mariah Norris, right, goes up for a layup during the third quarter of Monday’s game against Crestview at Brookfield High School.

BROOKFIELD – Brookfield head coach John Hiner knew his team was going to have a tough time against Crestview on Monday night.

A stellar start by Crestview gave the Rebels plenty of breathing room, but the Warriors hung around as long as possible before the running clock was triggered in an 83-37 defeat at Brookfield High School.

“We talk a lot about our standards, of just competing and playing hard no matter what game in, game out,” Brookfield head coach John Hiner said. “Yeah, we’re young. We’re in a rebuild, we’re in a tough spot right now. A lot of our guards are freshmen and sophomores.””

The Rebels (13-1, 8-0 Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference Grey Tier) were in complete control from the opening tip. They knocked down shots, forced turnovers on defense and passed well.

That combination gave them a 30-6 lead by the end of the first quarter.

Brookfield (3-9, 2-6 MVAC Grey) started to get something going offensively, specifically from beyond the 3-point arc and the foul line. But the Rebels kept pace on the scoreboard and took a 55-24 lead into halftime.

The Warriors scored five of the first seven points of the second half. But Crestview went on a 9-2 run, and an and-one by Bucey made it a 66-31 lead and a running clock with just over two minutes left in the third.

MaRae Craig led the Warriors with nine points. Mariah Norris finished with eight points, and Ava Winters ended the night with seven.

Brookfield was coming off back-to-back wins over Champion and Liberty. And despite the loss, Hiner thought the girls gained a little bit of confidence after putting up a fight against an MVAC powerhouse like Crestview.

“The girls kinda saw that tonight,” Hiner said. “You can see it on their faces, that we were able to kinda hang around with them a little more than I think even they expected.”

After dropping a 55-42 meeting to Laurel on Dec. 30 – Crestview’s only blemish so far this season -the Rebels have started another winning streak. After Monday, they have won four straight games, including wins over MVAC foes Liberty, Southeast and now Brookfield.

With the Rebels continuing to roll through the conference, Blatch isn’t concerned with his offense. But he wants to see some improvement on the defensive end.

“We got a lot of people that can really score,” Crestview head coach Aaron Blatch said. “I think we show flashes of being a really good defensive team – we also have some breakdowns here and there – so I think stepping up and taking the change every night defensively is something that we can keep building.”