RAPID RIVER — The Rapid River girls’ basketball team pushed themselves above .500 with a 53-46 win over the Norway Knights here Tuesday in Skyline Central Conference action.

The Rockets pulled ahead quickly in the first thanks to a strong performance from Natalie Belanger, who notched 11 points in the quarter alone.

“We had a strong showing from Natalie,” Rockets’ coach Scott Goodacre said. “She really came up for us in the post. Our guards did a great job of getting her the ball. They manned up, and our focus was getting Natalie into the post.”

Rapid River (2-1, 2-1 SCC) continued rolling in the second, leading the Knights 28-16 at the half before holding on for the win.

“We might have gotten a little sloppy with the ball (in the second half),” Goodacre said. “They were in and out of man and zone in the second half. We didn’t work the ball as good as we should’ve.”

The Knights scored 18 points in the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t enough to overcome their deficit.

“We held our momentum,” Goodacre said. “The girls were just happy to be out there playing. Coming back from that Jets’ game (60-38 loss Thursday) is huge. I think we probably could’ve and should’ve done better, but we improved by about seven percent this week. I’m not taking anything away from (the Jets). We improved, and we’ll just try to keep going in that direction.”

Kassie Gyselink led Norway with 18 points, and MacKenzie Clifford followed with 10.

Belanger led the Rockets with 24 points, while Kristin Goodacre finished with 10.

Rapid River, which lost the jayvee game, hosts Superior Central Friday.

Norway 7 9 12 18 — 46

Rapid River 13 15 12 13 — 53

Norway — Gyselink 18, Clifford 10, Hosking 8, Stanchina 7, Lindsley 2, Chellew 1. FT: 15-32; F: 18; Fouled out: Clifford, Nevens. 3-point field goals: Stanchina 1.

Rapid River — Belanger 24, K. Goodacre 10, Chaperon 5, Pilon 4, Poore 4, E. Goodacre 2, Keys 2, Spriks 2. FT: 7-22; F: 24; Fouled out: Pilon, E. Goodacre, Keys. 3-point field goals: K. Goodacre 1, Chaperon 1.