ROCKWELL CITY – Marty McKinney needs to bottle whatever he said during the halftime break Tuesday night for use down the road.

What exactly were the magic words? And were they spoken at a decibel or two higher than the normal speaking voice?

“I wouldn’t call it super tense, but we just knew we didn’t play well in the first half,” McKinney, Webster City’s head coach, said after his squad responded to run away from South Central Calhoun, 60-42. “We just needed to execute better.”

Consider it done.

Knotted at 20 when the third quarter began, WCHS (3-0) ripped off a quick 11-0 spurt and the run reached 26-2 by the 6:45 mark of the fourth quarter. Once caught in a slowed down yawner, the Lynx ramped up the defensive intensity and pushed the pace to leave South Central Calhoun (3-1) sputtering in the rearview mirror.

But, seriously, how loud did McKinney get during the intermission? Colt Richardson, who led the team with 18 points and 10 rebounds, isn’t saying.

“He just knew we could play better and he forced us to open our eyes a little bit to go out and play the game we knew we could play,” Richardson, who scored the Lynx initial six points and 10 in the opening half, said. “We came out strong in the third quarter … that’s fun when everybody is going and everybody is on adrenaline just playing the game we love.”

Avery Fuhs pitched in 16 points and six steals; twin brother Alec notched nine points and four boards. Sean Vogelbacher chipped in five points, and Landon Daniels and Chris Jorgensen both rattled in a 3-pointer. Daniels also dished out three assists.

Lulled to sleep by South Central Calhoun’s packed in 2-3 zone during the game’s first 16 minutes, WCHS too often settled for the long jumper or forced the issue and made poor passes that resulted in the bulk of its 11 turnovers.

At McKinney’s urging, WCHS jumped all over the Titans in the second half and scored more in transition. Avery Fuhs played a key role in the third-quarter surge; the senior buried a 3 from the corner three minutes into the period and popped off for seven of the first 11 points.

“It started at the defensive end,” McKinney said of Avery Fuhs’ play. “Steals led to transition and that opens up the offense for you.”

WCHS led 41-22 after three quarters. A trey from Alec Fuhs, followed by a baseline jumper by Richardson expanded the lead to 46-22 with 6:45 to go and what was once a nail-biter was suddenly a game where both benches emptied.

Richardson’s offensive exploits were nothing new, but his rebounding prowess was what McKinney was excited to see.

“He really hit the boards hard and that’s something we’ve really challenged him to do,” McKinney said. “He’s a good offensive player. He’s smooth inside and he can knock down jumpers.”

Connor Ludwig (nine points) and Derrick Henkenius (eight points) led the Titans.

WCHS will look to keep its perfect record intact on Friday when it heads east to face North Central Conference rival Iowa Falls-Alden.