With Maggie Monnat and Julia Engels setting a quick pace, the Baldwinsville girls basketball team entered the win column in its second outing of the season.

The Bees mostly relied on its defensive pressure to make Auburn uncomfortable last Monday night, and it led to a 55-31 victory over the Maroons.

B’ville had shown lots of competitive fire in a season-opening loss to West Genesee on Dec. 3, so it had some confidence that things would turn around against Auburn — and they did.

Steadily, the Bees built a 15-8 first-quarter lead, then increased the heat on defense and held Auburn to five points in the second period as the margin grew to 30-13.

Though the Maroons made a brief third-quarter push, it would not threaten the margin. All night long, Maggie Monnat victimized Auburn with a variety of shots, including three 3-pointers, on her way to 24 points. Engels provided ample support, earning 15 points, while Claire Monnat finished with seven points.

And B’ville kept it going on Wednesday night, making the short trip to Central Square and cranking up more defense in a 46-33 win over the Red Hawks.

Both teams started slowly, but it was the Bees taking charge in the second quarter, holding Central Square to just five points and seizing a 19-12 advantage.

For the rest of the night, B’ville built on that margin, even as the defense eased up a bit in the third quarter. Claire Monnat finished with 15 points, just ahead of Maggie Monnat, who had 14 points. Lauren McVey had seven points and Liz Giromini added six points.

B’ville gets a major test next Tuesday when it tries to avenge its Dec. 3 defeat to West Genesee in Camillus before hosting Utica Proctor (who lost star guard Brianna Kiesel for the season with a wrist injury) next Friday.