If the offense can do a better job of complementing the defense, the Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn girls' basketball team would be in position to win some close games.

Case in point: the Hawks scored what was then a season-high 45 points against Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire on Dec. 14, but that wasn't enough. The Titans overcame the Hawks' fourth-quarter lead to escape with a 47-45 win in Hartley.

Hawk coach Lester Tessum said the girls are playing better defensively, but now they have to improve on the other end of the court.

"I think our defense has improved quite a bit this year," Tessum said. "Our offense has to come around to match the defense. We've got to score 10 to 15 more points to keep us competitive."

H-M-S got off to a slow start and trailed 11-6 after one quarter. More consistent scoring helped the Hawks take a 20-16 lead in the second quarter. GT/RA briefly led again before Jasmine Lux's buzzer-beater put H-M-S in front, 22-21.

The Titans led most of the third quarter and part of the fourth before H-M-S rallied to take a 41-38 lead. But the Hawks could not keep the momentum going.

"I told the girls they needed to run our offense and look for really good shots," Tessum said. "But they were not as aggressive scoring as they needed to be."

The Titans took advantage and eventually took a five-point lead. Lydia Harders' three-pointer in the final seconds made the final score 47-45.

Harders and Taya Mason led H-M-S with 13 and 11 points, respectively. Darby Mastbergen and Lux each scored seven and Olivia Grooters added six. The Hawks made 34.7 percent of their shots from the floor, but were only 8-of-22 at the foul line.

Mastbergen grabbed seven rebounds; Lux had six rebounds and three steals; Grooters had four rebounds and four steals; Mason had four rebounds; and Harders had five steals along with two rebounds.

• vs. West Bend-Mallard

H-M-S fell behind early against West Bend-Mallard and could never close the gap during a 47-34 loss on Dec. 15 at West Bend.

The Wolverines held a narrow 10-8 lead after one quarter but eventually found openings in the defense to take a 25-14 advantage into the break.

"They figured out our 2-3 defense and passed the ball inside and got some easy baskets," Tessum said.

H-M-S trailed 38-22 after three quarters but showed signs of putting things together.

"We switched to a 1-3-1 zone in the third quarter. It seemed to work much better," Tessum said. "We started scoring the ball. I was happy with how we passed the ball and hit the girl cutting through the defense."

Lux led H-M-S with 14 points, Harders scored eight, Emily Otto scored six and Mason scored four. The Hawks again only made 8-of-22 free throw tries.

Harders recorded seven rebounds and two steals; Mason had four rebounds and three steals; Lux and Mastbergen each had three steals and two rebounds; and Otto had two rebounds and two steals.