OLD TOWN – The Old Town girls basketball team prides itself on suffocating defense, forcing turnovers and generating easy buckets.

The Coyotes showcased those assets Wednesday night, forcing a whopping 32 turnovers en route to a 59-37 Class B victory over Central of Corinth at MacKenzie Gymnasium.

Old Town did a formidable job of shutting down sharpshooting Red Devils guard Rachel Trafton, holding the junior to 12 points on 2-of-9 shooting from the floor.

Whenever Trafton touched the ball, the Coyotes jumped two and sometimes three defenders on her, which was crucial in Old Town coach Alan Brownewell’s game plan since the Red Devils had a height advantage.

“We were trying to dig down and not let her take it to us,” Brownewell said. “That’s one of our focuses this year, playing tough man-to-man defense.”

Brownewell’s offense struggled early at times with Central’s full-court pressure, but the Coyotes eventually solved it while forcing the Devils’ offense into mistakes and turning them into fast-break points.

“They had a good press at the beginning,” Brownewell said. “Once we realized where the open shots were, we could break it, then we got some easy looks.”

Central’s defensive pressure kept the game somewhat close throughout the first half, and the Coyotes weren’t able to get a consistent running game going, enabling the Devils to hang around.

Diane Rollins’ club trailed only 25-14 at intermission despite turning the ball over 19 times in the first half.

That’s when Jenna King took over, torching the Devils’ defense for 12 third-quarter points as the Coyotes went on a 22-12 run to stretch their lead to 21.

King, who had been struggling to find her shooting touch as of late, finished with a game-high 19 points, including 14 in the second half.

“She just broke out in that [third] quarter; she was relaxed,” Brownewell said.

Old Town would stretch its lead to as many as 23 in the fourth quarter, with a fast-break layup by Sarah Wilcox giving the Coyotes a 55-32 advantage.

Once Old Town got its running game going after intermission, the Red Devils simply couldn’t keep up.

“We talked at halftime about doing our thing, concentrating on playing Old Town basketball, running and pushing the ball up the floor,” Brownewell said.

With seven freshmen and sophomores on the roster this winter, Rollins expects the Red Devils to go through some growing pains.

Old Town’s defense exploited the Devils’ youth in frustrating Rollins’ club into miscue after miscue.

“They don’t value the possession sometimes as much as they should, but they’re trying,” Rollins said.

The Devils had several opportunities to generate inside baskets, but they were settling for outside jumpers at times.

“We didn’t attack the basket the way we should have. Hopefully, it’ll all come around,” said Rollins.

She added that when teams put pressure on Trafton, like the Coyotes did, the Devils will need to find open gaps in the defense.

“That means we didn’t get over to help her. We as a team need to help her, she totally handles the ball for us,” Rollins said.

Wilcox finished with 11 points while Nicole Guay came off the bench to contribute 11 for Old Town.

Trafton connected on eight of 11 free-throw attempts while freshman center Rebekah Campbell finished with nine.

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COYOTES 59, RED DEVILS 37

Central (2-2) Old Town (3-1)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Morin 1 2 0 0 2 St. Louis 2 4

Ra. Trafton 2 9 8 11 12 Guay 5 10 11

K. McHugh 0 4 0 0 0 Randall 2 7 5

Cote 0 0 0 0 0 Wilcox 4 7 2 11

Shina 0 1 0 0 0 Goodwin 2 9 4

Portmann 0 1 1 2 1 Brown 0 2 0

Day 2 2 0 0 4 Gammon 0 2 1 1

Blanchard 1 4 1 2 3 King 7 21 19

Campbell 4 11 1 8 9 Berry 0 0 0

Pineo 0 2 2 2 2 Smart 0 1 0

Ro. Trafton 2 4 0 2 4 Taylor 2 3 4

Cossar 0 1 0 0

Totals 12 40 13 27 37 24 67 18 59

Central 5 14 26 37

Old Town 13 25 47 59

3-pt. goals – Central (0-4): Pineo 0-2, Blanchard 0-1, K. McHugh 0-1; Old Town (2-8): Wilcox 1-1, King 1-3, St. Louis 0-1, Goodwin 0-3

JV: Old Town 50-25

Attendance: 350 (est.)