PARK TWP. — The Hudsonville girls basketball team played a difficult non-conference schedule this season to prepare for the always tough O-K Red conference, and if all goes according to plan, another deep run in the state tournament.

So far, the plan is working out just fine.

The Eagles dominated West Ottawa, which came in tied for second in the conference, to the tune of 65-25 on Friday night to move to 7-0 in league play and 11-2 overall. Hudsonville is now halfway through league play, having faced each conference opponent once.

“We knew coming into this game this was kind of one of those statement games,” said Hudsonville Coach Casey Glass. “If we can get through the league undefeated the first time through, that puts us in a good spot going into the second half. I thought it was a huge game tonight and our girls responded really well.”

Glass highlighted an intense start on the defensive end that allowed his team to pull ahead early Friday night and maintain a comfortable lead.

“I thought tonight our defensive energy was phenomenal,” he said. “Right away we got after it defensively and I thought that is what led to our offense being so successful. Our defense really set the tone early.”

Hudsonville got out to a 16-7 lead after one quarter, including an 8-0 run start to the game. By halftime, the Eagles led 34-13. The score was 53-20 after three quarters.

Jaci Tubergen led the Eagles with 19 points, followed by Maddie Petroelje with 15 and Alaina Diaz with 12. Tubergen and Petroelje both scored 13 in the first half, while Diaz poured in 10 after halftime.

The Eagles have outscored opponents by an average of 29 points per game in conference play. Still, Hudsonville is a long way from clinching the league title, with seven games remaining and Rockford sitting at 6-1.

“We go back to last year with West Ottawa – we beat them twice, then they almost beat us in districts,” Glass said. “Any given night you can lose, whether you’re not shooting well, foul trouble, whatever it might be.”

While there’s still a long way to go and a lot of games to win to get there, Glass said he likes the way his team is playing as it pursues a second straight state championship.

“A lot of things have to happen,” he said. “There’s a lot of good teams along the way that you have to face/ But I think we’re battle tested with our schedule that we have and we’re ready to play. I thought that showed tonight just in how we came to play.

“The girls know where they want to get to and what they want to do. That’s the mindset right now. We’re playing at a level that we’re capable of playing at every night, we’re not playing at the level of the team we’re playing, necessarily.”