FAIRVIEW VILLAGE >> The Methacton girls basketball team had gone pretty much unnoticed so far this season, despite getting off to a good start and coming into Thursday night’s contest riding a five-game winning streak. But against defending Pioneer Athletic Conference champion and undefeated Spring-Ford, the Warriors had a chance to see where they were as a team at this point of the season and possibly serve notice that they would be a force to be reckoned with.

And Methacton did precisely that by taking care of the ball, playing tough defense and putting the contest away down the stretch in a 50-42 Liberty Division win.

Cassidy Kropp and Mairi Smith each scored 13 and Reana Torres scored nine for the Warriors (3-1 Liberty, 4-1 PAC, 8-3 overall). Mackenzie Pettinelli scored 18 for visiting Spring-Ford (3-1, 4-1, 11-1).

“The best game we’ve played all year,” said Warrior coach Craig Kaminski, whose team led the rest of the way after going on top 8-7 late in the first quarter. “It was a measuring stick for us to see where we are against one of the best teams in the conference and the district and the state.”

“We had a confident mindset,” said Torres, who knocked down three big 3-pointers, including one early in the fourth quarter to give her team its largest lead of the night at 40-26. “We really wanted to win the game, show we can compete with anyone.”

“I think a lot of people were looking at the PAC as Perk Valley and Spring-Ford,” said Smith.

After taking the 8-7 advantage on a 3-pointer by Ashley Fisher (8 points), the Warriors boosted the lead to 13-7 by the end of the quarter on a 3-point play by Kropp and a jumper by Smith. Then Abby Arnold and Fisher connected on 3-point shots to start the second quarter and complete a 14-point run for a 19-7 lead.

“I think we got up early with a lot of energy,” said Smith, who made her presence known underneath with several blocks early in the game.

“We really prepared ahead of time and focused in practice,” said Kropp. “We always make sure we go out as hard as we can in warmups.”

The Warriors did not allow the Rams to put together any runs of their own as they played strong defense – including five steals by Kropp – held Spring-Ford to 31 percent shooting from the floor and limited their own turnovers against the aggressive Ram defense.

“We knew we had to protect the ball, take control of the offense,” said Kropp.

“We wanted to play at our pace,” added Torres.

Spring-Ford closed to within 41-34 on a 3-pointer by Katie Tiffan (10 points) with 1:41 to play, but Kropp shot 6-for-6 from the foul line after that to clinch the win.

“We played well against Perkiomen Valley and Unionville, but weren’t able to put the game away,” said Kaminski. “Tonight we were able to close it out. Defensively, we played well. You’re not going to hold all their players down. Pettinelli had a quiet 18 points. I think our man-to-man defense was key for us. Offensively, we rely a lot on Mairi and Cassidy. They stepped up. And so did Ashley Fisher.

Methacton shot 10-for-20 from the floor in the first half while holding the Rams to 6-for-27 shooting from the field, which was a major reason for the Warriors’ 27-17 advantage at the intermission. Anna Azzara (9 points) shot 3-for-5 from the line – the only free throws for the Rams the entire night – while Methacton connected on 14 of 18 at the line, including 9-for-9 by Kropp.

The Warriors have now won six in a row after a loss to Perk Valley gave them a 2-3 record in the middle of December.

“We have four seniors, but we have two girls who didn’t play last year,” said Kaminski. “It’s a good win.”