Photo by Jake McNeill: Westbrook-Walnut Grove guard Riley Parker drives along the baseline before attempting a layup during the first half of a prep girls basketball game against Murray County Central on Monday night in Westbrook. Parker left the game with a lower body injury, but the Chargers went on to capture a 51-38 home victory.

This story will be updated with stats, quotes and details

WESTBROOK — An offensive surge to start each half set the tone for the Westbrook-Walnut Grove girls basketball team on Monday night. The Chargers opened each half of their game against Murray County Central with 8 unanswered points and never let the Rebels get within one possession from there. The early momentum resulted in a 51-38 win for the Chargers.

The Chargers led by as many as 12 points in the first half before Murray County Central found its rhythm late. Coming out of a timeout and facing a 22-12 deficit in the final five minutes of the half, Thea Schneider started to get the Rebels going with a 3-pointer to bring the deficit back to single digits.

Carlie Rosss answered with a midrange jumper from the wing for WWG, but Kat Miller continued to cut into the deficit with a turnaround jumper and a 3-pointer to cut MCC’s lead to its thinnest margin since the game’s opening minutes, 24-20.

Yet, the Chargers wasted no time regaining any lost momentum coming out of the locker room. Riley Parker, Natalie Wahl and Leah Carter scored each of the half’s first 8 points to bring the Chargers’ lead up to 32-20.

Miller responded to the Charger run with back-to-back baskets and a pair of free throws, interrupted only by another Schneider bucket for the Rebels and a Carter layup for the Chargers. The run brought MCC as close as it would get for the remainder of the game 34-28.

Prior to Miller’s free throws, the game was briefly paused after Parker went down with an apparent lower body injury. She was carried off the court and did not return to the game.

Ross and Carter had the hot hand for WWG in the first half, scoring 9 and 8 points respectively heading into the locker room. Carter went on to finish with a game-high 18 points while Ross’ 9 were third on the team behind Wahl’s 12.

Carter and Parker each scooped layups into the bottom of the basket to give WWG its first points of the game. A baseline inbound from Hadley Jenniges to Natalie Wahl kept the Charger surge going and a Ross bucket gave WWG 8 unanswered points in the paint to start the game when MCC called its first timeouts three minutes in.

Kaitlyn Blankenship ended the MCC drought with an and-1 after the break, but Ross answered with a 3-pointer for the Chargers to score the game’s first points outside of the paint. Another bucket from Carter then brought WWG’s lead up to double digits for the first time, 13-3.

A pair of quick buckets from Wahl and Carter gave WWG its largest lead of the half, 17-5, when MCC called a timeout with nine minutes remaining. The huddle seemed to help the Rebels, as Calleigh Doeden scored back-to-back baskets with an and-1 free throw on one to give her team 5 unanswered points.

Westbrook-Walnut Grove now sits at 15-5 on the season, putting them 10 games over .500 after the win. The Chargers will look to continue to improve on that mark when they host Edgerton (11-9) on Friday at 7:30 p.m.

MCC, meanwhile, falls to 7-14 on the season after dropping four of its last five games. The Rebels have another pair of strong challengers on the road ahead, hosting Adrian-Ellsworth (13-7) on Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Southwest Minnesota Christian (13-7) on MOnday at the same time.