BOW – For Bow High girls’ basketball, it’s like clockwork: score, press, steal, score.

Once again, that was the Falcons’ mantra on Thursday night in their thorough 60-26 win over John Stark in which they forced 24 turnovers.

They stepped on the accelerator from the start: Bow (10-0) led 21-11 after the first quarter and 35-14 at the half. Though the Generals (5-6) responded with a brief 8-0 spurt in the third quarter, the Falcons’ proved too much to slow down.

The full-court press set the tone, like usual.

“We come out of the gates, and we play that full-court because generally offensively, we tend to rush a little bit,” Bow head coach Phil Davis said. “We’re at our best when we’re full-court pressing and pass-breaking. That’s what we really try to do right out of the shoot. We were certainly successful with that in the first quarter tonight.”

Bow’s Alex Larrabee led all scorers with 18 points; she also had five rebounds, five assists, five steals and no turnovers. In addition, Bella LaPerle finished with 11 points, four assists and three steals, while Juliette Tarsa had 10 points, six rebounds and five assists.

Since losing last year’s Division II championship game, 55-24, against Hanover, the Falcons have been a team on a mission. Channeling those feelings of frustration and disappointment into spirited play has surely keyed their 10-0 start so far this year.

“I think they’re just really dialed in,” Davis said. “With that heartbreaking loss in the finals last year where we didn’t put our best effort forward, I think the returning players realized what it was going to take. They put that energy, that feeling into every single game.”

On the other side, Thursday’s loss for John Stark marked its fifth straight after a five-game winning streak that catapulted the Generals to a 5-1 start. From the jump, Bow’s defense proved to be too much.

“They’re very aggressive, and they play great defense,” Generals head coach Tiffany Lewis said of the Falcons. “They’re always very aggressive, they hustle to get back if they get beat, and they’re always looking for that back tip in transition. … Props to them because they did a great job.”

One of the key struggles for John Stark over the last few weeks resides with their defense – Lewis explained that they haven’t had that same edge they had earlier in the year. The loss of senior Meghan Mefford to a torn ACL in the holiday Capital Classic looms large.

“We’ve definitely been missing her defensively since break,” Lewis said. “She’s just that little spark that we’re missing right now and won’t have back this season, and it’s just trying to figure out our identity without her and how to bring that intensity back up.”

Even still, Lewis was pleased with what she saw against Bow, even if the scoreboard might not show much reason to be satisfied, noting an improved intensity in practice that’s better prepared her players for game action.

With seven games still to play before the playoffs, the Generals still have time to try to right the ship. Meanwhile, the Falcons – who’ve looked on cruise control lately – can’t afford to become complacent. And with that bitterness from last season’s conclusion still prevalent in their minds, it’s unlikely they will.

The Generals resume play on Tuesday against Kingswood, a team that still hasn’t won a game this season. Bow will look to keep its unbeaten season alive at Oyster River (7-2) in a matinee on Saturday.

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