When the Whitehall girls basketball team stepped onto the floor Jan. 2, it was exactly a year to the day when a fire alarm halted play against divisional rival Northampton, but as Kennett High School found out, there was no bell to save them this day from the firepower of the Zephyrs offense as they rolled to a 55-43 victory.

The Zephs won three of the four quarters against the visiting Blue Demons for their eighth win of the season. It marks the second year in a row they’ve defeated Kennett, this time using a mix of solid defense and deft perimeter shooting, led by Taylor George’s 24 points, to move one step closer to an automatic district playoff berth.

The Blue Demons came into the game 9-1, but the Zephyrs controlled the game from the outset, taking an 18-15 lead into the second period. That’s when they started to pull away as George hit three consecutive treys to help them build a double digit lead heading into halftime.

Once the second half began, the Zephs worked the ball inside to senior center Jill Kreglow who converted one of those opportunities for two points.

As Kreglow was trying to establish position in the paint, she had to contend with bigger interior players. It’s like that most of the time for Kreglow, and this night was no different. Her assignment on the defensive end was the taller Jess Hussey who’s averaging 15.4 points this season.

“It’s definitely hard,” said Kreglow. “Our team isn’t very big to begin with, and I’m only 5-8, and most teams have a bigger size compared to me, so that means we have to take advantage of the quickness we have, and we work on doubling down to help with their size.”

In dealing with Hussey, Kreglow said she had to play her own game and do what she had to do. She got into some foul trouble, but they ultimately got the win.

Kreglow was coming off a game where she scored a team-high 13 points, knocking down six baskets from the field in their consolation game against Allen.

“We were working a lot with the high-low, and were working the ball from the foul line to the baseline, and we worked to keep the ball in and it paid off,” said Kreglow.

Kreglow was able to score both inside and out, sinking a few baskets from the elbow.

Defensively, she’s a player that relies on getting good position when a shot goes up, hoping to neutralize her opponent’s size in grabbing the rebound.

Even with the non-conference win, head coach Dwight Repsher sees a lot more room for improvement.

“We did some good things, we did some not-so-good things,” said Repsher.

He said they have to do a better job of reading defenses and making use of some of the different offensive options they have.

“But all in all, not bad,” he said.

He also said they played some of their younger players who responded by making shots which helped them get the win.

“We’re doing the right things,” said Repsher.

Even when Kennett threatened and were chipping away at the Zephyrs lead, the Zephs found an answer with Taylor Rummel’s wing jumper silencing one Blue Demon run, and a George three ending another.

“They made some runs and we held them off,” said Repsher. “We hung in there, did some nice things and got some easy buckets,”

In addition to George’s offensive outburst in which she sank five thress, Ivanna Jones was working her magic on the floor as well. The senior displayed a soft touch from the field in scoring 14 points.

The Zephs have a number of good options offensively, including Jill Rex who put her passing prowess on display against the Blue Demons, feeding Alix Buskirk on a nice backdoor play for a deuce in the third quarter.

The whole team has had a impact, whether it’s Rummel off the bench hitting threes, or Kylee Cunningham converting a fast break basket off a steal, they’ve all had a hand in getting the Zephs off to a fast start.

“The season’s going very well,” said Kreglow. “We’re looking forward to keep the winning streak going.”