By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Publisher LINWOOD — Last week, the Mainland Regional girls basketball team got thumped by rival Ocean City, 39-15. That might have been just the midseason wake-up call the Mustangs needed. On Wednesday night, the Mustangs were crisp in just about everything they did, and used a 14-6 third-quarter run to race past Cedar Creek 49-36. Freshman Mackenzie Brennan nailed a 3-pointer late in the first quarter, then followed that up with a jumper from the left corner on Mainland’s next possession to give the Mustangs a 17-7 lead. The Pirates rallied to cut the deficit to 26-21 by halftime, but Mainland (11-3) built a 33-21 lead with five minutes left in the third quarter and never looked back. Point guard Kelsey Kruger led the Pirates with 10 points. Point guard Kelsey Kruger led the Pirates with 10 points. “Against Ocean City it was an issue of getting the ball (inside). We felt like we got there tonight, and when we did get there, we finished some opportunities. It’s something we look to do, I think we were just a little more effective tonight,” Betson said. “We’re finding a little bit of a groove. There’s still tons of work to do. We’re still having too many turnovers and missing some free throws down the stretch, but there’s definitely some good things happening and the group we have is really starting to gel.” Malcolm said she feels as though the Mustangs are starting to play the type of basketball they are capable of, and the quick break with the storm this week might have been good for the team. “After not having school and not having practice, the way we played tonight I thought was amazing. I think we had really good teamwork. We’re all getting really close. We just know how to work together,” Malcolm said. “We’ve been working a lot on getting the ball down low. We’re trying to work on our outside shots, but we have a lot of strength down low. Meghan is like my go-to person. She can do everything on the court.” Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays  [adsense]