The Seymour Owls took a lead midway through the first quarter and led the rest of the way en route Friday night to a 61-49 defeat of visiting Rushville.

The loss was the first of the season for the Lions in seven tries.

The Owls held a 46-41 lead heading into the fourth quarter and increased their lead throughout the final eight minutes of action to improve to 4-2. They opened the fourth quarter with a 10-0 run and used a 3-point basket by Sarah Benefiel, followed by a 3-point play by Lauren James at the 4:37 mark to stretch their lead to 56-41.

Owls coach Jason Longmeier said he was pleased with the team effort.

“I thought hands down it was our best performance of the season,” he said. “The contributions we got from everybody on the floor. Not only contributions but the discipline to be able to execute a game plan I thought tonight was really good. We did a great job of taking what we had down on paper and what we needed to take away from them and we did that.”

The Owls outscored Rushville in each of the first two quarters to hold a 35-26 lead at the half.

Sarah Benefiel and Ashton Chase hit 3-pointers in the opening period to help Seymour take a 15-11 lead.

Seymour then went on a 17-7 lead through the first six minutes of the second quarter to take a 32-18 led before the Lions took advantage of sloppy plays by the Owls to cut the difference to nine at the half.

The Owls stretched their lead to 42-34 midway through the third quarter before the Lions closed at 44-41. Mckenna Fee’s offensive rebound basket at the buzzer gave the Owls a 46-41 lead heading into the final period.

James topped the Owls in scoring with 18 points, Griffin finished with 12, Chase 9 and Fee 8. Fee topped the Owls in rebounds with 8.

Taylor Browning led the Lions with 19 points with 12 coming in the first half.

Longmeier said he felt it was the second game in a row that the Owls played a strong fourth quarter. He said he also pleased with the rebounding.

The Owls will play host to Bloomington South on Tuesday night.