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But the message never got through, as the Red Rayders established early command and defeated the Elks, 56-39, in a girls basketball game last Friday night.

The Elks rebounded from the loss with a 34-23 non-league win at Glen Lake on Monday night to raise their record to 4-5 overall.

Elk Rapids slipped to 3-3 in the conference with the Charlevoix loss.

Caitlin Orschel had a solid game for the Elks, scoring 8 points, hauling down 7 rebounds and picking off 4 steals.

Olivia Morrison and Kacey Anderson contributed 8 points apiece.

Anderson played both games for the Elks last week after tweaking her knee the week before, which was good news.

Starting point guard Jocylen Fox hurt her knee early in the game and will miss at least two weeks, according to Coach Sayer.

Becca Madison paced the Red Rayders with a game-high 10 points. The Elks got off to a slow start, and trailed the Red Rayders by nine points, 15-6 at the end of the first quarter.

Charlevoix boosted its lead to 11 points, 23-12 at the half and extended it to a 19-point margin, 41-22 after three quarters.

Anderson returned to her normal form on Monday night, firing in 17 points, ripping down 16 rebounds, grabbing 4 steals and making 4 blocks.

Franki Price contributed 8 points. Morrison, Kelyse McKeon, Lexi Small and Christine Strudgeon all scored for the Elks. It was a low-scoring game.

Elk Rapids trailed 8-5 after one quarter and 17-10 at the half. But the Elks carried a 26-21 lead into the fourth quarter.

"We did some great things on defense to keep it low-scoring," Sayer said. "The girls worked hard, and everybody did their defensive jobs.

"After the game, (assistant coach) Wayne and I told the girls they need to focus on being more of an offensive threat.

"Franki, one of the captains, reminded me that I told them early in the year, 'As long as you play good defense and win we will be happy, I don't care if the score is two to nothing.' Good point." Glen Lake was led by Anna Brown with 7 points.

Elk Rapids played at Suttons Bay in a non-conference game Tuesday night.