RAPID CITY - The St. Thomas More girls basketball team held a potent Newell offense that was averaging over 60 points per game to just 10 first-half points and thwarted a fourth-quarter comeback on their way to a 40-35 Black Hills conference victory on Monday night.

The Cavaliers played suffocating defense, not allowing the Irrigators shooters open looks at the basket and forced 18 turnovers. Meanwhile, on the offensive end, they followed the lead of Alexa White who scored 10 first-quarter points and finished with a game-high 15.

"I'm happy with the defense tonight," said St. Thomas More head coach Brandon Kandolin. "We knew it was going to be a battle, they have a lot of offensive weapons so for us to hold them to 35 points is something we like to see."

The St. Thomas More defense held Newell to just three second quarter points as they took an 18-10 lead in at halftime. No player on either side other than White had more than four first half points.

"Alexa White is one of those seniors that is a great leader," said Kandolin. "She was feeling it tonight and got some good looks from outside and we trusted that she could shoot it. She got us off to a fast start tonight."

More's Taylor Dauwen also heated up, scoring six straight points at the end of the third as the Cavs extended their lead to 30-18. Dauwen finished with nine points.

After shooting just 25 percent from the floor in the first three quarters, Newell's offense finally came alive in the fourth. The Irrigators went on a 9-0 run to start the final quarter as Megan Mutchler hit two consecutive from outside the arc, cutting the Cavs lead to 30-27 with 5:42 remaining in the game.

Jordan Trohkimoinen also got in on the act, nailing five straight from the free throw line. Up to that point Newell had missed every free throw attempt in the game. Trohkimoinen finished with a team high 13 points.

But it wasn't enough as the Cavs hit some crucial shots down the stretch including a runner down the lane by White which made it a two possession game and the score 38-33 with under two minutes to play.

"The late score by White hurt us because we were cutting the lead and we had a chance," said Newell head coach Donavan DeBoer. "St. Thomas More's a good team, but we have this head game with ourselves that whenever we see blue we struggle. We need to change that mentality."

Newell missed a three with under a minute to play. At the other end St. Thomas More iced a couple free throws, ending the game.

St. Thomas More improves to 4-1 on the season and will host Hill City on Dec. 30 at 7:30 p.m. Newell drops to 3-1 and will travel to Red Cloud Dec. 30 at 4:30 p.m.