The Neshannock High girls basketball team is hitting its stride.

The Lady Lancers handed out 18 assists and limited host Shenango to just seven field goals in a 55-25 WPIAL, Section 2-AA rout last night.

“The kids followed the game plan to a ‘T,’ ” Neshannock coach Luann Grybowski said. “The team defense was phenomenal.

“It’s so much nicer when everybody is finding the open man. It rewards the hard cuts to the basket is what it does. They’re pointing at each other saying ‘Nice pass.’ ”

The Lady Lancers (4-0, 11-0) counted 13 layups among their 22 field goals.

“We just gave up too many buckets and didn’t make enough ourselves,” Shenango coach Brian Turk said. “They were hot. They had 13 buckets in the paint. If you give them that easy of a shot, they’re going to score.”

Grybowski was impressed with her team’s offensive production.

“We were hitting everything,” she said. “We shot the ball extremely well. We created some high percentage shots for ourselves. Our kids are pretty savvy. We made some nice backdoor cuts. I’d bet we scored at least eight points off backdoor cuts. When your offense gets you layups and the kids finish, that’s all you can ask for.”

Conversely, the Lady Wildcats (2-1, 6-4) struggled from the field. They managed to make just 28 percent of their field goals.

“They played good defense,” Turk said. “They made it tough for us to score. We had someone in front of us every time we took a shot. They’re relentless and they play defense the way you’re supposed to play defense. They deny, deny, deny. They make it tough to score no matter who you are. That’s why they’re 11-0.”

Madison McHale paced Neshannock with a game-high 18 points, while Tayler Grybowski tacked on 15 points, six assists, five rebounds and five steals. Cassidy Burrelli finished with 11 points and seven rebounds. Erin Warvell handed out six assists.

“We know Madison is going to score,” Turk said. “We thought if we could keep her under 20 points and keep their other players out of double digits that we’d have a chance as long as we were able to score ourselves. We did our job on her, but Grybowski had 15 and Burrelli had 11.”

Carolyn Peterson led Shenango with seven points, while Samantha Seaburn added six.

“Nobody scored 10 points,” Luann Grybowski said. “I was concerned about Seaburn and Peterson. Peterson had a breakaway layup against our subs, so technically we held her to five and Seaburn had six.

“We had Moorhouse on (Angelina) Sibeto and she didn’t let her drive at all. Tayler had Peterson and Burrelli had Seaburn. Warvell stepped up defensive and (Madison McHale) played well defensively. It was a team effort.”