Basketball is a game of runs and on Tuesday night the Manchester High School girls used a 14-0 run in the first quarter run to jump out to an early lead in their 59-40 victory over Onsted.

The Lady Dutch forced 11 turnovers in the opening frame to take a commanding 18-4 going into the second quarter.

Led by sophomore Jessie Manders, Manchester limited Onsted to two baskets over a 12-minute stretch in the first half.

More coverage: Boxscore | Girls basketball roundup | Boys basketball roundup

“The pressure that our defense applied did a nice job in trapping and frustrating their offense and forcing them to make bad passes,” said Manchester head coach Cori Kastel. “They couldn’t get anything going in their offense and therefore we kind of had control of the first quarter and kind of more of the first half.”

Manchester’s swarming defense forced a majority of the turnovers and the offense capitalized by scoring numerous baskets in transition and on the fast break.

Manders scored 12 points and was effective in all facets, adding eight rebounds, three assists and four steals.

“She is an all-around player,” Kastel said of Manders. “She passes the ball very well, she sees the floor very well. She is a very smart guard. She understands the game very well and that’s kind of nice to see as she is only a sophomore.”

After turning the ball over 18 times against Chelsea last Friday, the Lady Dutch (3-0) again struggled at times holding on to the basketball. Manchester had 20 turnovers on the night, many of which could have been avoided according to Kastel.

“They’re so aggressive, they want to take it to the hoop, but that’s one thing I think is going to come with time,” Kastel said. “We kind of got a little sloppy in the third quarter, but we were able to maintain and pull it back together in the fourth.”

Alexis Johnson led Onsted (1-2) with 13 points to go along with four rebounds and three assists.

“We did a nice job with Lexi, she’s tough to stop and with a kid like that, you’re not going to stop, you just got to make it tough on her,” Kastel said. “I think she earned every point that she got.”

Kelsey Ross added 10 points and nine rebounds for Onsted.

In addition to Jessie Manders’ 12 points, the Lady Dutch got a game-high 18 points from Taylor Manders and 17 points from McKenna Erkfritz.

Manchester started freshman point guard Sarah Thompson Tuesday night marking the third different starting lineup the team has used to open the season. Kastel said having so many options is going to be one of her team’s biggest strengths this season.

“We have a lot of options this season. It’s all going to depend on who we play and what we need,” Kastel said. “If we need speed, if we need size, if we need control. But as you can see, if you go after one, somebody else lights up.”

Manchester is now 3-0 on the season while Onsted falls to 1-2.

Matt Durr.