SIDELINE SAVE — North Union guard Cassie Beadle (3) leans near the sideline to save the loose basketball to Warrior teammate Olivia Von Bank (1) during Top of Iowa Conference action Monday night in Armstrong. Northwood-Kensett’s Carly Hengesteg (23) also attempted to make a save on the play. (Photo by Greg Abel)

ARMSTRONG — Whether swarming within a full-court press or protecting the rim in a half-court set, North Union produced impressive defensive numbers Monday night.

The hometown Warriors held Northwood-Kensett scoreless in the opening quarter, limited the Vikings to 16.7 percent field-goal shooting for the game, created a 35-to-7 edge in turnovers and blocked 11 shots in Armstrong.

Sam Nielsen delivered 12 points, six rebounds and three rejections in only three quarters played, Lily Henderson netted 11 points and three steals, while North Union’s reserves netted 25 points to pace a 58-16 Top of Iowa Conference rout over Northwood-Kensett.

“Our defense set the tone early and got us off to a fast start tonight,” said Warriors’ head coach Merle Tigges, whose lineup reeled off the game’s initial 19 points while forcing an 0-for-10 shooting performance by the Vikings during the first 9 1/2 minutes.

Henderson picked a Viking guard’s pocket and hit a layup before Nielsen pounded the paint to generate six unanswered points en route to an 8-0 lead. Cassie Beadle threaded one of her three assists to a slashing Henderson for a layup off an inbound play before Beadle proved the recipient of a half-court outlet pass from Olivia Von Bank for an easy lay-in to force the Vikings to call timeout at 12-0 with 2:38 remaining in the first frame.

Henderson swooshed a top-of-the-key 3-pointer out of the break before the backcourt tandem of Naomi Jones and Shelby Fraker combined for the final four points of the first quarter. Jones garnered one of her three steals and batted the loose basketball to Fraker for a lay-in basket before the two connected again to beat the buzzer. Jones zipped a pass to a breaking Fraker for a layup to widen the Warriors’ gap to 19-0 after one quarter in the books.

Chloe Costello nailed a 15-footer from the right elbow off a Ruthie Conlin pass to finally end the Vikings’ scoring drought near the 6:30 juncture of the second segment.

Jones found Fraker again for a baseline jumper to serve as the catalyst behind North Union’s ensuing 20-0 offensive avalanche to create running time via a 35-point margin — 39-4 — by intermission.

Beadle garnered a steal-turned-assist to Olivia Von Bank, Beadle spotted Nielsen for a low-post lay-in off an inbound trigger and Vanessa Von Bank delivered an assist to Henderson for a cutter in traffic.

Vanessa Von Bank then nailed a pull-up 3 off a steal-turned-assist from Olivia Von Bank before Nielsen hit a stepback baseline jumper off Henderson’s drive-and-dish play.

Jones then reeled off six consecutive points, triggered by her end-to-end drive, layup off Vanessa Von Bank’s pass and a steal-turned-layup. Ella Leonard tossed in a last-second baseline jumper to double the Vikings’ point production in the second quarter.

Jones tallied nine points to pace the Warrior reserves, Fraker contributed eight points, Maggie Engelby and Emily Meyer each made 3s, while Alivia Charlton and Olivia Merrill each matched Nielsen by blocking three shots apiece.

North Union (4-2) plays host to Belmond-Klemme at 6:15 p.m. tonight in Armstrong, while Northwood-Kensett (1-4) travels to Mason City, Iowa, on Friday for a game against Newman Catholic.

NK 0 4 5 7 — 16

NU 19 20 14 5 — 58

NORTH UNION (58)

O. Von Bank 1-4 1-4 3, V. Von Bank 1-6 0-0 3, Nielsen 5-9 2-2 12, Beadle 2-3 0-0 4, Henderson 5-6 0-0 11, Meyer 1-4 0-0 3, Charlton 1-3 0-0 2, Jones 4-6 0-0 9, Fraker 4-8 0-0 8, Engelby 1-1 0-0 3, Burt 0-1 0-0 0, Sandvig 0-1 0-0 0, Merrill 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-52 3-6 58.

NW-KENSETT (16)

Hengesteg 0-5 0-0 0, Davidson 0-7 0-0 0, Costello 1-5 2-2 4, Conlin 0-3 0-0 0, Wallin 0-0 1-2 1, Backhaus 0-6 0-0 0, Hanson 1-3 0-2 2, Welch 1-1 0-0 3, Bachtle 0-2 0-0 0, Leonard 2-3 0-0 4, Shoger 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 6-36 3-6 16.

3-pointers: North Union 5-18 (Engelby 1-1, Jones 1-2, Meyer 1-2, Henderson 1-2, V. Von Bank 1-6, Beadle 0-1, Fraker 0-3, O. Von Bank 0-1); Northwood-Kensett 1-8 (Welch 1-1, Davidson 0-4, Hengesteg 0-1, Bachtle 0-1, Leonard 0-1). Fouled out: None. Rebounds: NK 31 (Conlin 6); North Union 28 (Nielsen 6). Assists: North Union 14 (O. Von Bank, Beadle and V. Von Bank 3 each); NK 2. Steals: North Union 19 (O. Von Bank 5, Henderson and Jones 3 each); NK 3. Blocked shots: North Union 11 (Nielsen, Charlton and Merrill 3 each).