The New Castle High girls basketball team continues to roll.

The Lady ’Canes raced to a 25-4 lead and never looked back in a 70-31 nonsection win Saturday over Hampton. The game went into the mercy rule late in the third quarter.

New Castle (11-2), which is ranked No. 2 in the WPIAL Class AAA by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, has won eight straight games.

Hampton (5-9) committed 24 turnovers in the first half and 34 for the game.

“Sometimes in a situation like this you can overlook your opponent,” Lady ’Canes coach Jason Rankin said. “They’ve been struggling all year, but we didn’t put it on cruise control.

“We defended well and our halfcourt defense was pretty good. I was really happy with our effort.”

New Castle’s Christina Talbert led all scorers with 22 points. She added nine assists and six steals.

“Christina continues to impress; she’s running the show for us,” Rankin said. “She’s been able to get us into the offense we need and she’s getting to the basket and making plays.”

Ja’Nia McPhatter contributed 17 points and six steals for the winners, while LaShauna Brothers netted 12 markers and eight rebounds. Brothers has 991 career points.

Sara Pilarski paced the Lady Talbots with 14 points.