Even while taking their opponents best punch, the Eaglettes find ways to answer the bell and keep rolling. Van Buren County continued its hot streak Tuesday at JK Stanley Gymnasium, beating Boyd 65-41 to complete a season sweep of the Lady Broncos.

Cara Mills had a monster performance, finishing with 17 points and 18 rebounds, while Abigail Netherton recovered from early foul trouble to score 17 points as well as Van Buren County moved to 13-3 overall. Addacyn Emery also reached double figures with 11 points for the Eaglettes.

Boyd (12-9) was led by a 13-point, seven-rebound night from sophomore Brooke Kesey, who was honored pregame in front of the home crowd for recently eclipsing the 1,000-point mark in her young career. Cydney Jane Perry added nine points and three steals and Katie Bechtel finished with eight points and four rebounds for the Lady Broncos.

Unlike the first meeting, when Van Buren County ran out to a double-digit lead before Boyd ever scored and led by 25-plus points for most of the second half, Tuesday’s game was a battle into the second half. The Lady Broncos used a 7-0 run midway through the third quarter – fueled by a triple from Kesey and two driving layups from Perry - to make it an eight-point game with 3:14 left in the third, but the Eaglettes responded with a 14-2 run as Netherton poured in seven straight points during the stretch to put the game away before the fourth quarter.

Netherton’s second-half surge was a difference maker, but coach Tyler Sapp believed his team’s ability to hold the lead in the first half with the star sophomore sidelined was just as important.

“I thought our bench came in and weathered the storm while Abigail was in foul trouble,” said Sapp. “Laura (Gammon) came in and handled the point position as well as anyone.”

Gammon finished with a team-best, plus-23 rating in her 22 minutes on the court. She also led the team with five assists.

Boyd coach Tim Page came out the game impressed with both squads.

“I believe we executed and got the looks we wanted, but sometimes the ball can’t find the bottom of the basket,” said Page, noting his team had a season-low 13 turnovers but shot just 26.3 percent. “Defensively, I think we were effective and we made it as difficult for them as we could. They’re a great team and I would expect them to make a push for state.”

Van Buren County followed up with a 54-33 victory over Marion County Friday, its fifth straight win since coming back from Christmas break.

“We are winning games and that is a plus. I still think we have a higher ceiling and we have areas of the game we need to continue to get better and improve,” said Sapp about building momentum with the Eaglettes.

Van Buren County will be back in action Tuesday at home against Grundy County. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m.