Austin Hemmingson | Daily Press Carney-Nadeau’s Sandra Boulton shoots over Rapid River defenders Quenna Spriks and Cecilia Pilon (4) during Thursday’s game at Rapid River.

RAPID RIVER — The Carney-Nadeau girls are trending in the right direction at the right time.

The Wolves went on the road and dominated Rapid River from start to finish for a 48-25 basketball victory Thursday night, extending their winning streak to nine games after starting the season 2-3.

“I’m liking what I’m seeing,” C-N coach Ken Linder said. “We’re playing good defense, we seem to be getting better and better, our outside shooting is starting to come around … so I’m feeling pretty good about it.”

The Wolves also held their third straight opponent under 28 points, limiting the Rockets to 10 for 38 shooting and forcing 19 turnovers in this Skyline Central Conference tilt.

“We played really good defense all around,” Linder said. “We’ve been playing good defense for a good stretch here now, and that’s what’s keeping us going.”

Offensively, Sandra Boulton took over in the first half, scoring 14 of her game-high 21 points. Tessa Wagner then came around in the second half to finish with 15 points and a whopping 25 rebounds.

“Tessa struggled with her shot early on and Sandra took over,” Linder said. “In the second half, Tessa had some good rebounds and putbacks… I asked her at halftime to start using her shot fakes, and she used those in the second half to get free from (Natalie) Belanger, because she was having trouble with her blocking her shot. She used her shot fakes and that helped her have a better second half.”

In contrast, the Rockets (5-8, 5-7 SC) were held under 25 points for the third straight game in their third straight loss. They were within 13-11 after a floater from the baseline by Kristin Goodacre with 6:05 left in the second quarter, but Boulton keyed a 14-3 Wolves’ run to end the first half.

“We’ve been struggling with (offense) for about a month now,” Rockets coach Scott Goodacre said. “Last (Monday), we shot 36% in the first half and 7% in the second half (in a 45-25 loss to Stephenson). We do a lot of shooting (in practice), but I hope it’s going to start coming like a waterfall pretty soon. It’s gotta give.”

Haley Ernest added five steals for the Wolves (11-3, 10-3 SC), who committed just seven turnovers and shot 20 for 65 from the field.

Belanger led the Rockets with 10 points.

“I think we did good (defensively),” coach Goodacre said. “We had a lot of baseline help on (Wagner), which was our plan coming in. I thought Natalie did a pretty good job against her — she even had a couple blocks on her. We knew going in that was going to be the battle right there, and Natalie stepped up.”

The Wolves, who won the JV game 50-28, visit North Central Monday. The Rockets visit Manistique Tuesday.

Carney-Nadeau 12 15 13 8 — 48

Rapid River 9 5 8 3 — 25

Carney-Nadeau — Poupore 8, Laurila 2, Boulton 21, Wagner 15, Ernest 2. FT: 8-17; F: 14; Fouled out: None.

Rapid River — E. Goodacre 2, K. Goodacre 8, Belanger 10, A. Spriks 1, Poore 4. FT: 5-11; F: 15; Fouled out: None.