Staff photo / Preston Byers LaBrae’s Angel Scruggs dribbles down the floor on a Vikings fast break during a win vs. Brookfield in Leavittsburg on Monday.

LEAVITTSBURG — For most of Monday’s Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference (MVAC) matchup between LaBrae and Brookfield, turnovers equaled points. And fortunately for the Vikings, the turnovers were mostly the Warriors’ and the points were mostly theirs.

As a result of plenty of takeaways, LaBrae cruised to a 66-26 home victory, extending its season-opening win streak to seven games.

“I thought we moved the ball well, we got everybody really good minutes and we were able to work on some things that needed tweaked,” Vikings head coach Mandy Rowe said.

“We actually had two days off because of the snow yesterday so we hadn’t practiced since Thursday, so I wasn’t sure what we would look like today, but I was pleased overall with our effort as a whole,” she added.

The Vikings controlled the action from the opening tip and got out to an 11-2 run before they and the Warriors traded baskets for a few minutes to make it 18-9 at the end of the first quarter.

The lead only grew from there; following back-to-back baskets by Marae Craig in the first 90 seconds of the second quarter, Brookfield went nearly six-and-a-half minutes before scoring another point. In that time, LaBrae forced numerous turnovers and rattled off 17 unanswered points, which helped it take a 40-16 lead into halftime.

“I think our girls weren’t ready for it,” Brookfield coach Jonathan Hiner said of LaBrae’s aggressive defense. “Hats off to Mandy and their coaching staff; they do a good job of getting their girls ready and doing all the things the right way. Their girls played hard, and they executed better tonight than we did.”

After the break, the Vikings continued the onslaught, primarily thanks to numerous pass deflections and active hands while the Warriors dribbled. By the end of the third quarter, LaBrae led 58-24, had triggered a continuous clock and began incorporating the entire bench, which continued in the quick fourth quarter.

“That’s the best part of our game,” Rowe said of her defense’s takeaways. “We like to pressure the ball, and we like our offense to come from our defense. I thought tonight we did a good job of that.”

Makayla Scruggs and Riley Rowe each scored a game-high 14 points for LaBrae, while Ally Magoulick added 12. Craig was the only Warriors player to score in double figures; she had 12 of her team’s 26 on the night.

LaBrae is now 7-0 overall and 3-0 in the MVAC Grey after Monday’s win. The Vikings, who have won each game by at least 13 points, are set to visit Liberty on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Brookfield dropped to 1-5 on the season and 0-3 in league play under Hiner, who is in his first season.

“[We are trying to] be more process-oriented than outcome-oriented,” Hiner said. “Just trying to, each game, get improvements on things that we want to do, whether it’s winning a turnover battle or winning the rebounding battle. We’re a young group, we’re kind of inexperienced, and in games like this where we’re getting pressured, it kind of shows.”

The Warriors are at Southeast on Thursday.