MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. — When the top two players on the John Milledge girls’ basketball team play well, the Lady Trojans can be a difficult team to beat.

Westfield learned that the hard way when the Lady Hornets’ Tuesday night trip to Milledgeville ended in a 54-38 win for the home team thanks in large part to outstanding play from Rose Clements and Gracie Mitcham.

The victory brings the Lady Trojans’ record to 12-4 overall and 2-1 in region play.

In addition to the stellar play from his top two players, head coach Paul Brooks said a change in defensive strategy helped limit Westfield’s leading scorer and led his team to victory.

“I felt like tonight the defensive adjustment we made going from our base defense to a diamond-and-one really shut down their main scorer,” Brooks said. “We were able to do that in the fourth quarter. We couldn’t do it in the third because she got hot. The only reason we were able to do it in the first half was because she was missing her shots.”

Both contenders were struggling from the field early. Susie Braddy came in off the Trojan bench and sparked the team with a 3-pointer late in the opening period. Braddy would knock down a couple more 3s throughout the game to give her nine points in the region win. Despite the slow start John Milledge was in complete control after the first quarter. The home team milked about 30 seconds off the clock before Mitcham nailed the first of her five 3-pointers as time expired to put her team up 12-3 at the buzzer.

Westfield tried to half front Clements in the post, but some good entry passes from her teammates and good body positioning on the senior’s part led to some relatively easy baskets for her on the interior.

Coach Brooks said after the game that the minutes he got from Braddy and Maegan Leslie off the bench were a big help Tuesday and that he’ll need more of the same so his girls don’t run out of gas as the season wears on.

He went on to say that although they enjoyed a 16-point victory there is still one area his team could improve upon.

“I thought we did a poor job of rebounding the basketball,” Brooks said. “[Westfield] got too many second chance opportunities. They were able to get those 50-50 balls. We’ve got to get a better percentage of those. We didn’t do that tonight, but the hustle’s there. We just have to learn to do a better job of checking our man just a little longer. We didn’t do a good job of checking and boxing out.”

The Lady Trojans outperformed the visitors from the free throw line, going 9-of-16 from the stripe to the Hornets’ 4-for-8. Clements led all scorers in the game with her 19 points.

The John Milledge girls have a tough test tonight as they travel to Westminster. The Lady Wildcats only have one region loss that came against Gatewood. Friday’s tip is scheduled for 6 p.m. in Augusta.