APEX — Upon watching the first few possessions of the Apex girls’ basketball game against Chapel Hill Friday, it appeared that the teams were evenly matched.

Chapel Hill scored first on a 3-pointer and the score was tied 6-6 early in the first quarter.

But then things began clicking on both ends of the floor for the Cougars, Apex coach Scott Campbell said, and his team created numerous turnovers that led to easy buckets.

The Cougars (1-3) went on a 27-2 run to close the first half, holding Chapel Hill to only one field goal in the second quarter and securing a 33-8 lead at the break, before cruising to a 63-26 win.

“We had a good stretch there,” Campbell said. “They hit a 3 to start the game, it was tied 6-6 and then after that we handled it. Our defensive intensity was really good. We got a lot of run outs. I felt we had not been getting out in transition like we usually do and we got that going a little bit tonight. Their guards are young, so that gave us an advantage.”

Apex guard Bethany Collins, who finished with nine points, said the Cougars set a goal at halftime to not let up defensively, despite the large lead. As a result, Apex allowed only two third-quarter points, creating a 57-10 lead going into the fourth quarter that would be too much for the Tigers to overcome.

“We don’t underestimate anyone that we play,” Collins said. “We played well as a team and came out in the second half looking at the game as tied 0-0 and just took it from there.”

One key in the Cougars’ win was their ability to secure offensive rebounds. Even when Apex missed shots, it often had second and third chances to convert offensively.

“We talked about that a lot at halftime,” Campbell said. “We did a really good job, even when we didn’t control it, of keeping it alive and running it down. On nights you don’t shoot well, you have to really defend and offensively rebound well, and tonight we did a good job of that.”

With the game firmly in hand, Campbell was able to reward all of his players with significant minutes, a feeling he enjoyed as his players have worked hard in the early season.

“They all work hard in practice,” Campbell said. “Fourteen kids is just a big roster, and it makes it hard sometimes; it’s tough to keep that many. But tonight was a good chance to get everyone some playing time and get their feet wet and get some experience.”

Though it was rewarding for Apex to earn its first win of the season, Campbell said he hopes the nature of the win will give his team more confidence, something it has lacked so far since many of the players did not see significant minutes last season and are still adjusting to the varsity level.

“Hopefully that will get their confidence up, because that’s been an issue,” Campbell said. “We have five seniors but only two have seen a significant amount of time, and hopefully this will get us going confidence-wise.”

The Cougars will play three games this week, and Campbell hopes they can carry the momentum from Friday’s blowout into the week without much time to practice.

“Unfortunately we have to turn around and play three games this week, when what we really need is practice to challenge them,” Campbell said. “But I thought it was a total team effort. They were unselfish. We had play from the perimeter and the post, which is the way we need to play.”