TUPPERS PLAINS — One streak was going to continue on Thursday night at Eastern High School. The only questions going in were which one and for what program.

When all was said and done, the Waterford girls basketball team maintained its strangehold on the Tri-Valley Conference Hocking Division by earning its sixth straight league championship with a convincing 57-38 victory over Eastern on Senior Night at the Eagle’s Nest.

The Lady Eagles (18-2, 8-2 TVC Hocking) led briefly at 4-2 and were tied at 4-all early in the first quarter, but the visiting Lady Wildcats (17-2, 10-0) retaliated with a thunderous 13-2 surge over the final five-plus minutes of the period to take a 17-6 advantage after eight minutes of play.

WHS continued that momentum early into the second canto, going on a 7-0 run over the opening 2:30 of the period to take a 24-6 edge.

EHS ended an almost 8-minute scoring drought with 5:19 remaining in the half as Kasey Turley canned a trifecta for a 24-9 deficit. The guests, however, closed the quarter on a 9-5 run, allowing Waterford to take a commanding 33-14 lead into the intermission.

The hosts started to find their rhythm in the second half, going on a 12-4 surge out of the break to pull within 37-26 with 3:50 remaining in the third quarter. Waterford closed the remainder of the period on a small 5-3 run to take a 42-29 lead into the finale.

The Lady Eagles closed the gap to nine points (42-33) with 6:21 left in regulation, then pulled to within nine again with 3:55 (46-37) and 2:29 (47-38) remaining — but never came closer the rest of the way.

WHS — which hit 12-of-14 free throws in the fourth quarter — closed the final 2:29 with a 10-0 run to wrap up the 19-point decision and a season sweep of the series. Waterford defeated EHS by a 55-50 margin back on January 14 in Washington County.

The Lady Wildcats — who have now won 14 consecutive games this year — captured their fifth consecutive outright TVC Hocking championship and also posted their 46th straight TVC Hocking victory, dating back to the 2005-06 campaign. Trimble was the last team to defeat WHS in league play, doing so by a 62-51 margin back on January 5, 2006, in Glouster.

Eastern, on the other hand, had its 9-game winning streak snapped for a second time this season by Waterford. It was also the first TVC Hocking home loss for a girls team at Eastern since February 9, 2009 — when these same Lady Wildcats defeated EHS by a 68-36 margin during Senior Night.

The Lady Eagles won league title in both softball (10-0) and volleyball (9-1) over that span, with the lone league loss coming at Waterford in the fall.

Waterford also posted its 13th straight victory over Eastern in basketball, dating back to the 2004-05 season. The Lady Eagles last defeated WHS in hoops back on February 19, 2004, by a 50-45 margin in a Division IV sectional final at Vinton County High School.

Eastern was led by Audrionna Pullins with 12 points, followed by Emeri Connery with eight and Kasey Turley with seven markers. Both Pullins and Turley — Eastern’s lone seniors — also pulled down nine rebounds apiece in their home finale.

Brenna Holter added five points, while Allie Rawson and Ashley Putnam rounded things out with respective totals of four and two points. EHS was 7-of-18 at the free throw line for 39 percent and had team totals of 37 rebounds, 20 steals, eight assists while committing 23 turnovers.

Sina King — who has signed with the University of Akron — led WHS with game-highs of 20 points and 19 rebounds, followed by Emily Brown with 11 and Brooke Drayer with nine markers. Ali West and Kim Barker both added seven points to the winning cause.

WHS was 22-of-28 at the free throw line for 79 percent. King scored 12 of her 20 points at the charity stripe.

Waterford has a combined record of 57-3 in league play during its six-year reign as TVC Hocking champions. Trimble shared the 2004-05 crown with WHS after posting matching 8-2 marks that season.

Waterford claimed an evening sweep with a 45-21 victory in the junior varsity contest. Ally Hendrix led the JV Eagles with six points, while Autumn Hendershot led the JV Wildcats with a game-high 17 points.

Eastern — ranked sixth in the latest Division IV AP poll — now turns its attention to the D-4 tournament. The Lady Eagles — a No. 2 seed — will play the winner of the Symmes Valley-Southern matchup at Athens High School on Saturday, Feb. 20, at 2:45 p.m.

Waterford — ranked tied for ninth in the D-4 poll — will play the winner of the Miller-Belpre matchup at Athens High School on Saturday, Feb. 20, at 1 p.m.