SOUTHPORT — Seymour head coach Jason Longmeier said you never know what you’re going to get when the routine is switched up and the team plays some early games, like what the Owls did early Tuesday afternoon playing at Southport.

But Seymour had no issue handling business as they brought home a 49-31 victory.

“I thought our girls did a good job of answering the bell,” Longmeier said.

Brooke Trinkle was a big source of offense for the Owls in the first half. She scored the first points for Seymour off two free throws, and she also made the final four points of the first half, taking a game-high 15 points into the break.

A pair of 3-pointers in the first quarter from Trinkle helped push the Owls’ lead out, and she also converted an and-one in the second quarter. The Seymour junior had as many points as the opponent as Seymour led 24-15 at halftime.

“I thought Brooke carried us offensively in the first half,” Longmeier said.

The third quarter was the big difference in the contest.

A Southport 3-pointer cut Seymour’s lead down to 26-20, but from there, it was all purple the rest of the way.

Kendrick Sterling drilled a 3-pointer to go up 29-20, two free throws from Journee Brown gave Seymour its first double-digit lead at 31-20, and the Owls weren’t done.

Trinkle used a shot fake to get to the basket and make a layup, Kaylee Waskom nailed a 3-pointer from the right wing and Brown capped off the quarter with another layup as Seymour went on an 11-0 run to take a 38-20 lead into the fourth quarter.

Southport shot 1 of 13 from the field in the third quarter and had three turnovers.

“In the second half, I thought we got it going collectively,” Longmeier said.

Southport finally got a basket to go to begin the fourth quarter, but a 3-pointer from Kendall Sterling gave Seymour its largest lead at 41-22.

Grace Schrader got her first points in the final frame off an and-one to give the Owls a 44-24 lead. Seymour had no issue closing it out for the eventual 18-point victory.

Trinkle led the team in scoring with 17 points while Kendall Sterling and Brown each contributed 10 points.

Southport threw a couple of zone looks at Seymour, and Longmeier thought Brown did a good job navigating it in the paint.

“It was one of her better games of the year, if not her best game,” Longmeier said. “From an IQ standpoint, she really found some seams in that zone when we were struggling to get into it. Especially when we went four-out, one-in, I thought she took advantage of some holes in there.”

Other scorers for Seymour were Waskom with five points, Kendrick Sterling with four and Schrader with three.

The only advantage Southport seemed to have statistically over Seymour was on the glass, where the Cardinals out-rebounded the Owls 34-29. Seymour only committed eight turnovers to Southport’s 11, and the Owls shot 44 percent from the field while holding the Cardinals to 24 percent shooting.

Tuesday’s victory was the second-straight for Seymour after previously losing four in a row and dealing with some key injuries.

But with everyone back in the lineup, the Owls are back over .500 on the year at 7-6.

The Owls’ JV team won 50-24 prior to varsity to improve their record to 9-4 on the season.

Seymour will be playing again on Thursday against Rushville with the same tip-off time as Tuesday. JV is slated to start at noon with varsity to follow around approximately 1:30 p.m.

“They’re gonna be tough, they can shoot,” Longmeier said of the upcoming opponent. “We got to make sure we’re solid with what we do.”