Wilmington used strong team defense for a District 10, Region 2-AA triumph at Lakeview.

The Lady Greyhounds (4-4 region, 6-10 overall) have won three of their last four contests, all region games. Wilmington is still contending for a playoff seed in Class AA, a thought that seemed impossible after the team lost seven of eight to start the season.

“We’re communicating defensively,” Wilmington coach Brandy Sanford said. “I thought they played well the entire game. Lakeview kind of stopped us in the third quarter, but we didn’t let up defensively. I have very unselfish players that make it work.”

Cassidy Marett exemplified the unselfish play of the Lady Greyhounds with a team-high nine assists. She also had nine points. Alanna Elliott had a team-high 18 points for the winners. She is averaging 10.8 points a game in five games this season since returning from a head injury.

“We didn’t have Alanna the first half of the season, and I kept telling the girls they were going to have to step up,” Sanford said. “With her coming back, and since they stepped up their game offensively with her out, we’re becoming a tougher team to defend against. We’ve struggled offensively sometimes to put points on the board early on, and I just tried to tell my kids that they miss 100 percent of shots they don’t take.”

Wilmington was able to cut down on its 28 turnovers it committed in a loss to Sharon last week, only giving up the ball 14 times last night.

“We were actually moving the ball well,” Sanford said. “Coming down from 28 was good. The more you have the ball in your possession, the better.”