SILVER CREEK — Thursday night was a tale of two halves between Maple Grove and Silver Creek that left both teams walking out of the gym with something to feel good about.

The Red Dragons earned the victory by a score of 42-27 over the Black Knights in Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 2 West action at Silver Creek High School.

“We’ve been playing some good teams. … We’re just starting to get our pace going,” Maple Grove head coach Al Roller said after the win.

For Silver Creek, however, the short-handed group of seven players responded to a 22-point halftime deficit with what Black Knights head coach Kevin Rice called the best half his team has played all season.

“We won the second half. It was the best half of basketball our girls varsity team has played all season,” Rice said. ” … The energy came back, and all of a sudden, they just started playing.”

Maple Grove (4-10, 2-6) jumped ahead early with the first nine points of the contest and never trailed. After a 16-5 first quarter in favor of the Red Dragons, the visitors held Silver Creek (2-13, 0-8) scoreless in the second quarter to take a 27-5 lead into halftime.

But rather than quitting with the game appearing to be already decided, Silver Creek responded with 22 points in the second half.

Maple Grove led 40-15 after three quarters, but Silver Creek scored 12 straight points in the fourth quarter and held Maple Grove scoreless until just a few seconds remained in the game.

Leading the charge in the second half for the Black Knights was Cassidy Haskins, who connected on four 3-pointers in the second half for a team-high 12 points on the night.

Kevin Rice and his wife, Tammy, both noted that Haskins showed her shooting ability as a junior varsity player, but Thursday was the first time she really shined offensively at the varsity level.

“It was there. It was great that it showed up tonight,” Kevin Rice said.

Silver Creek also had seven rebounds from Lucille Jimerson, six rebounds from Rachael Beadle, and seven steals from Kay Hutchison.

In the Maple Grove victory, Courtney Martin led the way with 14 points and eight rebounds.

“She’s our horse. We want to get the ball to her in the post and let her do her thing,” Roller said. “If we get the ball in the post, it opens up the outside. The last few games we’ve been working on dishing it out, then attacking the rim.”

Eliza Dawes also contributed 11 points and seven rebounds for Maple Grove.

Both teams are back in action on Tuesday as Silver Creek is at Chautauqua Lake, while Maple Grove hosts Panama.