And the crazy atmosphere helped the Lady Vikings, who went on to win 65-40.“The crowd was definitely an intimidation factor early in the game,” said Harmony head coach Sean McMullen. “It was like a playoff atmosphere. I thought the girls handled it pretty well.

“Glendale jumped out with the press and got an early lead. We fought back early in the first quarter. I thought the girls handled the situation with the crowd fairly well for how big of a crowd it was and it not being a playoff game.”

The Lady Vikings forced several early turnovers, taking an 8-1 lead on the Lady Owls.

“I think it’s the best we have come out to start the game,” said Glendale head coach Beth Campbell. “We got a couple of crazy fouls at the beginning and then they contained themselves. I don’t think anyone ended up with more than three. They started out rough. We had some fouls fast.”

The Lady Vikings sent Harmony’s Traci Hauser to the line eight times in the first quarter, and she converted on six of those tries. That helped Harmony cut the lead to 18-8 after one.

Glendale continued to pack on the pressure in the second quarter, taking advantage of Lady Owl turnovers and rebounds from Hanna Noel, Olivia Reese and Kyla Campbell.

Reese had nine points in the second quarter, while Noel and Campbell had four each.

“I think for us to be successful ... if we put three girls in double digits, and I think we did today, I don’t think we lose too many games,” Coach Campbell said. “The girls have been working hard and it shows. When we have our starting five in, I think we have a real chemistry and we work real well.”

Glendale led 41-16 at the half. Seven different players scored for the Lady Vikings in the first half.

Harmony’s Dorey Westover started the second half with two straight buckets sandwiched around two free throws to cut into Glendale’s lead. Westover went on to lead the Lady Owls with 13 points, including 5-of-8 from the line.

The Lady Owls converted on 19 of their 26 attempts from the charity stripe in the game.

“We work on free throws a lot in practice,” McMullen said. “We are over 60 percent on the season, so we really focus on that, so we when have them, we can convert those opportunities.”

Glendale started to sub heavily in the second half, with groups of four or five new players coming in every few minutes. A total of 15 players saw minutes in the game.

“We were able to get a lot of different people into today and we had different groups working together,” said Coach Campbell. “We saw some things we need to fix, but overall I think we did well.”

Harmony closed out the game with a 12-2 run in the fourth quarter, setting the final at 65-40.

“Glendale is very talented,” said McMullen. “They play hard. They are well coached. They are well disciplined. They were the better team today.

“But I was very pleased with my girls. Early in the season we were struggling to score points on the board. I think we scored 40 today, so they are playing hard and getting better everyday. I’m excited to see where we go heading into the Christmas season.”

Traci Hauser had 12 points for the Lady Owls, while Westover finished with nine rebounds.

Noel led Glendale with 17 points and six rebounds, while Reese had 16 points and nine rebounds. Campbell closed out the players in double digits with 13 points and six rebounds.

Glendale (4-2 overall, 2-0 MVL) heads to the Williamsburg Tournament on Dec. 27 to face Northern Bedford in the opening game.

Harmony (0-4 overall, 0-2 Mo Valley League) returns to action on Dec. 28, playing Philipsburg-Osceola in the opening game of the West Branch Holiday Tournament.

Harmony—45

To. Hauser 1 0-0 2, Tr. Hauser 1 10-12 12, Westover 3 5-8 13, Smith 1 4-6 6, Neff 1 0-0 2, Brothers 0 0-0 0, Kephart 1 0-0 2, Price 0 0-0 0, Passmore 1 0-0 2, Winings 0 0-0 0, Schneider 0 1-2 1, Meagher 0 0-0 0. Totals: 9 19-26 40.

Glendale—65

Reese 6 2-3 16, Campbell 3 7-8 13, Lukehart 1 0-0 3, Noel 6 5-6 17, Vereshack 1 4-8 6, Downs 1 0-0 3, Sinclair 1 0-0 2, Best 0 1-2 1, C. Kuhn 2 0-0 4, C. Richards 0 0-0 0, A. Richards 0 0-2 0, Wimberly 0 0-0 0, Williams 0 0-0 0, B. Kuhn 0 0-0 0, Taylor 0 0-0 0. Totals: 22 19-27 65.

Three-pointers: Westover 2. Reese 2, Lukehart, Downs.

Score by Quarters

Harmony 8 8 12 12—40

Glendale 18 23 22 2—65