Marshfield’s Carissa Bunnell passes around Amanda McMillan of North Bend in the second half Tuesday. World Photo by Lou Sennick.

COOS BAY — One last look at Tuesday’s final score gave North Bend coach Mike Forrester a good chance to assess the rival Marshfield Pirates.

“That’s going to be an amazing team this year,” he said. “They’re athletic. They’re going to have a good season, mainly because they just play smart basketball together and have so many weapons.”

Marshfield (1-1) also has momentum on its side after an impressive 49-31 Civil War win over North Bend (0-2) in an OSAA Endowment Game at Pirate Palace.

“If they play every game as well as they play us — watch out,” Forrester added.

With patient ball handling and a strong defensive showing, the Lady Bucs made quick work of the younger Bulldogs, who featured an entirely new starting five from last year’s squad that finished third in state.

Marshfield controlled tempo the entire night and won with balance, getting points from all but one player — including a team-high 12 from Brianna George and nine from Moriah Roberge.

“We wanted to work a lot of people in tonight,” said Marshfield coach Debbie Dunbar. “I had the girls working in shifts of five, and that really helped us stay fresh in the second half. I told the girls our transition defense was going to be big for us tonight.”

That rang true in the second quarter, as the Pirates forced four turnovers on the way to building a 24-15 lead going into the break.

That came after Marshfield finished the opening period on an 11-1 scoring run, fueled by two 3-pointers by Roberge and five points from George, who shot 5-for-9 from the field.

“We shot pretty well tonight, but there’s always ways to improve,” said Marshfield’s 5-foot-11 post Natalie Caffey. “We still need to be more patient.

“I like what we were able to do inside against them.”

The Pirates out-rebounded the Bulldogs 19-10 in the first half with six of those going to Caffey. The Bucs had an answer for each North Bend rally.

After Megan Meador dropped in a layin to cut Marshfield’s lead to 19-12 in the second quarter, the Bucs responded with a deep 3 from Kelsey Laird and a short jumper by George.

“They had a little more poise than us,” said North Bend guard Brooke Davison. “We were kind of nervous going in and made too many mistakes.”

Davison led the Bulldogs with 14 points, including six from the free-throw line. The sophomore shot 1-for-5 in the first half, but sank three of her first six shots in the third quarter to help keep the score close.

Davison sank a close shot in traffic to pull North Bend within nine at 26-17, but Marshfield countered with another trey from Roberge, who scored all of her points from beyond the arc.

“I was really happy with the way we responded to them,” Dunbar said. “I wanted the girls to get after it tonight and pick up the pace. They came at us with a zone defense, and we moved the ball well against it.”

Marshfield senior post Ali Worthen tallied four assists, including one to Bre Jansen with 4:15 left in the game that helped push the Bucs ahead 47-26, their biggest lead of the night.

“We made adjustments to them late in the game and still couldn’t cover them,” Forrester said. “The girls battled hard, but they’re young — we still have a lot to work on.”

Dunbar said the Bulldogs’ effort is where it needs to be.

“This is a team we like playing early in the season,” she said. “They’re a good test. They’re scrappy; they challenge you and they don’t let up.”

Senior post Jessianne Heley finished with six points and four rebounds for North Bend, while Meador added five points and four steals.

Laird and Jessica Hockema both scored six points, while Jansen tallied five and Mel Stout two plus five rebounds and four steals for the Pirates.

Notes: Marshfield is off until Tuesday’s game at home against Roseburg. North Bend, meanwhile, travels to Cottage Grove on Friday before hosting North Marion on Saturday.