RIVER FALLS — The River Falls girls basketball squad hopped into the win column Friday night, dominating Chippewa Falls the entire way for a 56-36 win.

Previously sitting at 0-6, the early season has forced the Wildcats to make some adjustments, but it is by no means too late, as just one of the losses was a conference game.

“Offensively, for us, we just wanted some more actions, trying to get better shots than we’ve been taking,” Head Coach Ian Sticht said. “I think we were able to get the ball inside early, establish that inside game.”

It was no secret that the Wildcats were looking to get the ball inside early, as junior Abigail Treichel got a lot of looks early and was taking advantage. Getting the shots to fall early is big for this squad, as Sticht said it is “contagious,” bringing with it ball movement and three-point shooting.

Treichel helped River Falls get the early lead, which vaulted them to domination with a 29-11 halftime lead. Treichel had 10, senior Kaelin Jalowitz had nine and junior Addy Timm had nine at the break, making up 28 of the team’s 29 points.

The three kept the magic alive in the second, with Treichel leading the way at 20 points and a whopping 16 rebounds, Jalowitz piling on 16 and Timm adding another 15.

What makes the trio such an intriguing one is that they get the job done in completely different ways. Treichel is a dominant force inside, Jalowitz is a primary ball handler and drives to the rim to make plays and Timm is a top-tier shooter, scoring all her points on threes Friday night.

“You have to have those things if you’re going to find any success,” Sticht said. “You have to be able to score in different ways.”

Sticht saw a lot of the positive signs he was looking for during the win, and said it is something they need to carry on the rest of the way.

“We had lots of good energy, and the ability to score for us is something we’ve kind of lacked,” Sticht said. “We saw when we were better offensively, we ran more actions and had longer possessions, we got to the free throw line and we created better shots for ourselves.”

There is a key to continue the positive momentum and that is consistency.

“Just trying to be more consistent offensively and with possessions that end in the shots that we really want to take,” Sticht said. “Defensively, I think we need to continue to get better at our screen coverages and making sure we’re not missing assignments.”

River Falls now takes on one of its toughest weeks of the year before taking a winter break, facing a challenging Baldwin-Woodville team Tuesday and the team Sticht said is the Big Rivers Conference champion favorite Eau Claire Memorial on Friday.

“It’s a tough week next week,” Sticht said. “Definitely a little bit of confidence going into the last week before Christmas.”