As Corinna Arellano heard Palmer Ridge’s third quarter numbers against Widefield, the results shocked her.

Palmer Ridge defeated the Widefield girls 59-28 at Bowers Gym on Thursday and outscored the Gladiators 20-2 in the third quarter.

“I didn’t realize we did that,” Arellano said. “We were patient in the third. Sometimes we get a little too sped up and have to settle down to get good offensive possessions.”

Palmer Ridge (4-1) scored a season high in the win against Widefield (3-3) and bolted to an 11-0 start in the opening frame. Arellano scored five of the first seven for the Bears and Palmer Ridge closed the first quarter ahead 19-6.

But the Gladiators emerged in the second led by Isabella Monk, who scored all 8 of her points in that frame and helped Widefield close the gap to 27-19 at the break.

Usually, coaches enter the locker room with their players at the break to recap the first half and rally their team. But Palmer Ridge coach Jason Boyer remained on the floor to discuss a call – respectfully, of course – with an official as his players chatted at halftime.

“Sometimes instead of my voice, I want it to be their voices in the locker room,” Boyer said. “When they know we didn’t play up to standard, I want them to fix it before I go in and say anything.”

Addison Steenland, who finished the night with nine points, said players focused on what propelled the Bears to a stellar first quarter against the Gladiators.

“It was just a matter of teamwork and coming out strong,” Steenland said. “We came out with a lot of energy, but that momentum died down as we got tired. Our identity is defense, we go into a game saying no matter what happens on offense, our identity is defense. And that’s what helps lead us to success.”

Their halftime spiel worked as the Bears led 47-21 after three. The only score the Bears allowed in the period was a pair of free throws by Lexi Marjerrison with 39 seconds left.

“Defense is just effort and energy,” Steenland said. “This isn’t just an effort from the starting five, but it’s our bench keeping the energy going while we’re playing and then coming in and keeping the tone there. It doesn’t just end with the starting five. We have a great bench.”

Most of Palmer Ridge’s starters sat out the fourth as the Bears outscored Widefield 12-7 in the final quarter to secure the victory and move to 4-1 in back-to-back seasons.

“We work hard on defense to get our patience and bit of a breather on offense to make sure we can get a good bucket,” Arellano said. “Those early buckets are always helpful and hustling and getting the ball back on defense were crucial for us and helped us win this one.”

Boyer said he was happy to see players adjust after the Gladiators cut the lead to single digits in the second and thankful the Bears accomplished their second half goals.

“For us, in that third quarter, we wanted to make sure to stop Bella Monk and play fast,” Boyer said. “We wanted to get back to what got us success at the beginning of the game and flying all over the place and they did that.”