The Big Park Community School girls basketball team won its fourth straight game Monday, Jan. 23, defeating visiting Oak Creek School 51-8.

“We tried some new things on defense, and the girls did a good job with it despite not having much practice time with it,” Big Park Head Coach Amy Parrella said.

Parrella put in a new defensive scheme at practice last week and let her girls run it for the first time this season Monday against Oak Creek.

“We are ready for the tournament to begin this coming weekend, and I thought this new defense would give us just another thing to do against a tough opponent,” Parrella said.

With the victory, Big Park wraps up the 2011-2012 regular season with a 10-1 overall record. The Coyotes only loss came Jan. 10 at the hands of rival Camp Verde Middle School in triple overtime, 31-30.

Top performances for the Coyotes against Oak Creek on Monday included eighth-grader Jessica Kirkham, who scored 14 points and had four steals and one assist.

Eighth-grader Annie Parrella was next in line in the scoring department with eight points while recording five steals, one assist and one rebound.

Sixth-grader Liza Westervelt scored seven points and had three assists, three steals and one rebound.

The 10-1 Coyotes beat rival West Sedona School on Thursday, Jan. 19, 42-10. Sixth-grader Xan Hawes had eight points, three steals, two assists and one rebound while Parrella had six points, four steals and four assists.

Big Park will now await the meeting between athletic directors Wednesday, Jan. 25, to find out what seed it will get in the Verde Valley Athletic Association Small Schools Tournament.

The Small Schools Tournament is scheduled to be held at Camp Verde Middle School and is set to begin Friday, Jan. 27, and run through Saturday, Jan. 28.

More than likely, the Coyotes will earn the No. 1 seed heading in to the VVAA Small Schools Tournament, and would get a rematch with the 1-11 Wildcats of West Sedona to begin it Friday.