EAST PALESTINE — The East Palestine Bulldogs were on a mission to play a full four-quarter game Thursday night when they faced league rival Leetonia. Mission accomplished.

The Bulldogs came out with focused intensity as they dominated the Bears in the opening period of the contest and then rode that momentum to a 58-38 victory to improve to 7-6 on the season, 3-3 in the Eastern Ohio Athletic Conference.

“This one was huge for us, just to get us back on track after we just dropped three in a row, two to league opponents and a tough one to East Liverpool,” Bulldogs coach Will Franklin said. “So this one was big because it gets us right back on track and they are a good basketball team. This is definitely a good quality win for us.”

“The first time they beat us, so we have just been practicing from after that game when we lost,” EP junior guard Joclyn Fristik said about the first meeting between the two teams. “We brought all of our confidence to win this game.”

The Bears, who were in second place in the league coming into the contest, now carry a 7-6 overall mark and a 4-4 record in the league.

The Bulldogs raced out to an 8-0 lead in the first quarter before the Bears finally got a basket from Taran Ferry with 3:20 remaining in the quarter. The Bulldogs defense caused the Bears to turn the ball over eight times as they held a 15-4 lead at the end of first stanza.

“Before the game, we all told ourselves that we are going to play all four quarters because we usually are not playing all four,” Fristik said. “I think coming out in the first quarter and putting those points up made a big deal for us.”

“We have had a problem playing all four quarters this season,” Franklin said. “We have had a good half here and there or good three quarters. We had a really good five days of practice where we were focused on just getting a back-to-back effort on every play.

“You got to see that tonight. They got every loose ball, they went after the rebounds, they were jumping all over the place and having a good time.”

Joclyn Fristik buried the second of four three-pointers she had on the night to push the ‘Dogs’ advantage to 18-4 to start the second quarter before the Bears began to find their legs. They went on a 7-2 run to close the deficit to 20-11 with 4:20 remaining in the half. But the Bulldogs blocked the Bears from making the game any closer as they held a 28-17 lead at the intermission.

“We came out flat,” Bears coach John Hritz said. “I think the kids, when they beat a team the first time they think they automatically should beat them again. I tell them that any day of the week, when you get a team that you beat before, any team can beat you if you’re not ready to play.”

The Bulldogs continued to pull away in the second half as they built a 20-point lead, 43-23, with 2:05 remaining in the third quarter following a basket by Payton Sherry. The Bears closed the quarter strong as they went on a 5-2 run to make it 45-28 at the end of the quarter.

EP started the final quarter with a 9-4 run to grab a commanding 22-point advantage at 54-32 with just 3:10 remaining in the game courtesy of Fristik’s fourth and final trey of the night. The Bears got no closer than the final 20-point deficit.

“We got beat by a better team tonight,” Hritz said. “So, hopefully, we have to see if we can bounce back and go from there.”

The Bears return to the court Saturday afternoon hosting the Toronto Red Knights. The Bulldogs have a week off as they don’t play again until next Thursday when they travel to Southern Local.