MONTICELLO — Unity beat Unity on Monday night.

The Sages, using the defense they call their "Unity defense," shut down the Rockets' offense to pick up a 45-30 victory.

"We've been working on different kinds of defense all year ... and in practice we call this the 'Unity defense' because Unity is always tenacious and after it," Monticello coach Brad Garrett said. "The girls asked me coming out, 'Do you want us to use the Unity defense on them?' I said yes — I want them to play like that all the time."

After a tepid first quarter, the Sages (5-15, 3-5 Okaw Valley Conference) turned up the heat on Unity (8-12, 4-4).

From 6:36 in the second until just 40 seconds were left in the half, the Rockets were held without a basket. The drought lasted 11 possessions, allowing Monticello to get some offense going and secure a 21-11 halftime advantage.

Try as the Rockets might in the third, they could not chip away at the lead. The Sages' defense held strong, forcing many turnovers, and on offense the girls matched Unity point for point in the third.

Even when they could get good looks at the basket, points were not plentiful for Unity on Monday.

"It was one of those games where it's like there's a lid on the basket," Rockets coach Kelly Gallick said. "Monticello does a lot of things well ... they beat us in every area of the game."

Monticello seniors Tori Gadbury and Sarah Foran upped their game in the fourth quarter and helped finish off the Rockets. Gadbury scored seven in the fourth on her way to a game-high 19 points.

Foran scored four of her nine in the final eight minutes.

"They're our senior leaders," Garrett said. "They're seeing each other, and the girls are playing well."

The win encouraged the Sages, who have one conference game left before the OVC tournament begins Thursday. Garrett expressed his hope this could get a streak going for his team.

"This is a big win," he said.