It seemed like Dakota Ridge was getting double points for every bucket it made in the second half Saturday afternoon.

The No. 3-ranked Eagles only led by eight at halftime against host Fairview in the Fairview Festival, but won 76-43 in girls action. The Eagles coasted to the victory in the fourth quarter and took home third place in a game that quickly got out of Fairview's control.

"They hit some 3-pointers and some long outside shots and they got more confident," Fairview coach Rod Beauchamp said. "Their shots were just falling."

Tanya Thielen led the Knights with 12 points and was the only player on the team in double figures. Linley Miller scored eight.

The Knights (2-3), who dropped below .500, have struggled at times this season scoring points to begin games. There wasn't a problem with that Saturday. They opened the first quarter with 11 points and only trailed by two at the end of it because of a Dakota Ridge 3-pointer at the buzzer.

There was, however, a problem scoring in the second half. The Knights didn't take bad shots. They just didn't make many. Meanwhile, the Eagles were pouring in points off a fullcourt press.

It was a dose of the Knights' own medicine. They love to press and did on Saturday. But they also had to deal with the Eagles' press, and that one was the winner.

"We're just trying to find out how to do some things on offense," Beauchamp said, "When you're trying to strive on defense, it's probably not a good idea to give up 70 or 80 points."

The Knights will begin a tournament in Santa Barbara, Calif., on Wednesday, with hopes of trying to correct what happened in the second half.

"We will just have to keep on building on that first half," Beauchamp said. "We need to work on our defensive rotation. When we would have one person rotate, the second person wouldn't."

Dakota Ridge 76, Fairview 43 DAKOTA RIDGE (76)

Santisteven 4 3-4 11, Baal 4 0-0 8, Holm 5 1-2 14, Branting 2 0-0 5, Noel 5 1-1 11, Gunther 1 0-0 2, Callaway 2 0-0 4, Pendergraft 5 6-6 19, Schauer 0 0-0 0, Shepler 1 0-0 2. Totals 29 11-13 76.

FAIRVIEW (43)

Frebel 3 0-0 6, Narum 3 1-3 7, Thielen 5 2-3 12, Cohen 3 0-0 6, Pitkin 0 2-4 2, Stack 0 0-0 0, Miller 3 1-2 8, Weber 1 0-0 2, Smith 0 0-0 0, Robinson 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 6-12 43.

Score by quarters:

Dakota Ridge13 21 19 23 — 76 Fairview11 15 16  7 — 43

3-point field goals — Dakota Ridge (5): Holm 3, Branting, Pendergraft; Fairview (1): Miller. Total fouls — Dakota Ridge 17, Fairview 15. Technical fouls — none. Fouled out — none.