News Photo by James Andersen Alpena's Jasmyn Schultz (11) handles the ball while being defended by Ogemaw Heights junior Payton Izworski during a girls basketball game at Park Arena on Thursday.

The Alpena girls basketball team went back to basics to get back in the win column on Thursday.

The Wildcats used a scrappy defense effort and strong post play to defeat Ogemaw Heights 40-19 in a non-conference makeup game at Park Arena. The win broke a two-game losing streak for the Wildcats (7-3).

With a decisive height advantage over the Falcons, the Wildcats used their inside game to great effect, finding players open in the paint all night. Jessica Marwede led Alpena with nine points and Shelby Seaver and Dakota Prevo added six each.

“We try to balance the floor and get looks where we can and in this case we had a size advantage inside,” Alpena co-coach Steve McCourt said. “The girls did a nice job of not forcing shots inside.”

Alpena’s defensive efforts set up the later opportunities inside, but the Wildcats took a little while to get going on defense. Ogemaw took a 9-4 lead late in the first quarter, but eventually the Wildcats took control, winning loose balls and converting turnovers into points.

Alpena held a tentative 11-9 lead after one quarter, but pulled away for good with a 10-0 run to open the second quarter. The Wildcats kept the pedal down on defense and held the Falcons scoreless in the second quarter.

“We started off in our defense putting some pressure on and I think any time you’re going to play more intense defense, there’s going to be a little more scrappiness to it; some loose balls and tips and stuff like that,” Alpena co-coach Kelley Miko said.

Ogemaw continued to struggle in the second half and was again held scoreless in the fourth quarter. While Alpena’s offense wasn’t dominating, the Wildcats got enough contributions from its lineup to stay comfortably ahead.

“They’re having a great year and they just beat Gaylord,” McCourt said of the Falcons. “The message at halftime was stay focused and stay hungry.”

Alpena led 35-19 after three quarters and ended the game on a 5-0 run as both teams went scoreless for the final four minutes.

Ogemaw’s JV team edged Alpena 35-29. Mollie Girard led Alpena with seven points and Jaime Modrzynski had six.

Alpena plays at Petoskey on Tuesday.

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ALPENA (40): T. Foster 1 0-2 3; K. Jones 2 0-0 5; J. Schultz 2 0-0 4; M. Voltz 1 0-0 2; S. Seaver 3 0-2 6; J. Marwede 3 3-4 9; E. Jore 2 0-0 5; D. Oliver 0 0-2 0; D. Prevo 3 0-0 6.

OGEMAW HEIGHTS (19): A. Dantzer 2 2-4 7; T. Childs 2 0-0 4; P. Hansen 1 0-0 3; M. Killingbeck 1 0-3 2; M. Fritz 0 0-1 0; P. Izworski 1 0-2 3.

James Andersen can be reached via email at sports@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5694. Follow James on Twitter @ja_alpenanews.