SCOTTSVILLE — This time, Bowling Green wasted little time in exerting its dominance.

Lady Purples coach LaVonda Johnson had noticed a trend in her squad this young season: Sometimes they didn’t turn up the heat until late in a contest.

But BG pounced early Monday on George Rogers Clark, building a quick double-digit lead and never letting up for a 60-47 victory at the South Central Bank Lady Invitational of the South at Allen County-Scottsville High School.

“It’s hard playing catch-up, and we got them in that position,” Johnson said. “We did some smart things early to help us win the game.”

The victory moved Bowling Green (7-2) into today’s 1 p.m. consolation bracket championship game against Franklin County (8-2). The Lady Purples are seeking their third straight victory in the tournament after falling to Notre Dame Academy in the opening round.

The Lady Purples unleashed a 15-3 first-half run that gave them a 26-11 lead early in the second quarter. The Lady Cardinals (5-4) never seriously threatened after that, as Bowling Green’s lead swelled to as many as 18 late in the second half.

Bowling Green shot 56.7 percent from the floor, making 17 for 30 field goal attempts.

Junior guard Erica Smith paced the Lady Purples with a game-high 22 points on 5-for-8 shooting from the floor, including a 2-for-3 effort from 3-point range.

“We knew they were a really good team, and we knew that we had to come out on them hard and get the lead up and try to keep it,” Smith said. “(Guards Preshia Rogers and Jewel Rogers), they are two good players, so we knew they were going to try to do their thing on us.”

The Rogerses combined for 17 points for George Rogers Clark, led by Preshia Rogers’ 10 points. Senior forward Whitley Henry paced the Lady Cardinals with 11 points on 4-for-4 shooting from the field.

Bowling Green, meanwhile, got 11 points from sophomore guard Zoe Sibalich, who made 2 for 3 3-point shots.

The Lady Purples outrebounded George Rogers Clark 35-20, led by five boards apiece from Smith and Sibalich.

“That was something we talked about in our shootout before coming here,” Johnson said. “We are bigger than them, we want to look inside, we want to box out and rebound, get those second-chance points. And I think our post players stepped it up.”

GRCHS 11 9 13 14 – 47

BGHS 22 13 13 12 – 60

GRCHS – P. Rogers 10, Black 9, Henry 11, Pegg 2, J. Rogers 7, Jones 3, Gay 2, Kindred 3.

BGHS – Tarrence 4, Smith 22, Ingram 1, Lawrence 3, Sibalich 11, Martin 9, Kallstrom 8, Barnett 2.

Allen County-Scottsville 50, Red Boiling Springs (Tenn.) 39

Allen County-Scottsville senior guard Shelby Harper poured in a total of 52 points in the Lady Patriots’ first two games at the LIS.

Harper’s offensive production dipped a little Monday, but the rest of the Lady Pats picked up the slack.

ACS used its stout defense to pull away early from Red Boiling Springs (Tenn.) and notched a 50-39 victory, despite getting only two points from Harper in the first half.

Harper rebounded to finish with a team-high 12 points, but ACS coach Brad Bonds was happy to see his other players – including junior forward Brittany Rich, who scored all 10 of her points in the first half – carry the load.

“It’s really positive for our program to have other kids step up and share the scoring load and not burden Shelby with so much of it,” Bonds said. “Maybe we will have that more in the future.”

Still, the Lady Patriots (9-4) didn’t need much scoring to put away Red Boiling Springs. ACS finished with 12 steals – six by Harper – and forced 20 turnovers in holding the Lady Bulldogs to 31.1 percent shooting.

“That’s something we’ve been pretty solid on all year,” Bonds said. “That’s really what we want to do. Right now I think we’re playing pretty good defensively.”

The Lady Patriots gradually padded its comfortable cushion throughout the game, turning a 19-12 first-quarter advantage into a 30-18 halftime edge.

The Lady Bulldogs flirted a few times with a second-half rally, pulling as close as seven points in the third quarter. The threats were short-lived, however, as ACS managed each time to distance itself again.

“We tried to look at pulling the ball out and being patient, but when they made those runs we would respond,” Bonds said. “Good teams find a way to respond and finish the games out. … We gutted one out.”

Red Boiling Springs got a game-high 15 points from guard Shannon Sleeper, while guard Layce Colter added 11.

Shelby and Hannah Harper each collected six rebounds for ACS, while Shelby Harper and guard Emma Napier both dished out six assists.

The Lady Patriots face North Hardin at 2:45 p.m. today in the tournament’s fifth-place game.

ACSHS 19 11 12 8 – 50

RBSHS 12 6 12 9 – 39

ACSHS – Rich 10, Borders 8, Napier 7, S. Harper 12, H. Harper 6, Gothard 4, Rice 3.

RBSHS – Dozier 9, Colter 11, Sleeper 15, Aguiler 1, Painter 3.