The senior forward went on an uncontested eight-point run to give the Golden Falcons a crucial lead in the third quarter, scoring 12 of her 14 points during a 10-minute stretch to secure a 39-32 win over visiting Silver Creek/Forestville in Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 1 East play.

“Rachel had a great game,” Falconer coach Emily Scholeno said. “I just see her getting more comfortable in that spot, more confident, getting tough — and a lot of talk. She does an excellent job talking, kind of directing traffic. So then she is able to get herself directed and able to score.”

While Falconer (6-0, 3-0) has gotten off to a hot start thanks to some outside shooting from the likes of Tess Spangenburg and others, it was the inside play of Harper that lifted the team to its sixth straight win.

She would pull the Golden Falcons to within a point with a long jumper, and Falconer would take the lead at 20-18 after some work at the foul line by Spangenburg and Grace Lundmark before Harper’s eight-point run.

Silver Creek/Forestville’s Abby Rice attempts to score while being defended by Falconer’s Rachel Harper during Tuesday’s CCAA Division 1 East game in Falconer. P-J photo by Jay Young

Hitting inside shots and turnaround jumpers in the post while her teammates aided with rebounds, Harper would finish with four steals, four blocks and eight boards to go along with her team-high 14 points.

“I thought that Falconer would dominate the boards throughout the game, and we really worked in practice on securing rebounds,” Silver Creek/Forestville coach Tammy Rice said. “I felt in the first half we did that, and then Falconer came out strong in the third quarter where they got a couple — three possessions down the floor they grabbed those rebounds and put them back up. The game broke open and we were down by eight.”

Falconer would carry a 30-18 lead into the final period, and continued to play strong defense against Silver Creek/Forestville (2-3, 0-2) star Abby Rice down the home stretch.

Rice would score eight of her team-high 14 in the fourth quarter and Jade Bouvier would add four more points, but the Black Knights were unable to muster enough offense to close the gap.

“Falconer, we knew was going to be tough this year,” Rice said. “They have the two bigs in the block, they are aggressive and physical. So size-wise we don’t match up particularly well with them. They play very aggressive defense. We knew they would have a good game plan against Abby, they did a good job of shutting her down the first half.”

Lundmark would put in a well-rounded effort for the hosts, adding 11 points, two steals, an assist, a blocked shot and six boards while Ava Fenton chipped in 4 points, three assists and five rebounds.

Thus far, the Golden Falcons have relied on their resiliency and offensive versatility as much as anything, especially during a 45-39 win over Gowanda in their third game of the year.

“This group is all in,” Scholeno said. “Every single one of them comes every day ready to work and they are learning to click together. We lost three seniors last year and we gained a girl from Andover, so they are kind of learning to work together. I will say we went down against Gowanda, the first quarter when we played them, and this group is one that completely rallies — doesn’t let it affect them. They came out in the second half and didn’t hang their heads at all.”

SILVER CREEK/FORESTVILLE (32)

Eldridge 4 0 8, Bouvier 3 0 6, Barrett 2 0 4, Rice 9 3 14, Valvo 0 0 0, Karcz 0 0 0. Totals 16 3 32.

FALCONER (39)

Harper 7 0 14, Fenton 1 0 4, Lundmark 3 5 11, Krenzer 1 0 2, Lynn 0 0 0, Peterson 1 2 4, Spangenburg 1 1 4. Totals 14 10 39.

3-point goals–Spangenburg, Rice.

Silver Creek/Forestville 6 10 2 14 — 32

Falconer 5 7 18 9 — 39