Just five games into the 2008-2009 season and the Lindbergh High School girls’ basketball team is proving that good defense can produce wins just as much as a good offense.

The Flyers (5-0, 2-0 Suburban West) are holding opponents to just 26.6 points a game this season, and the Lindbergh defense came out in full force Friday night in a 51-29 win at home against Northwest (3-4, 0-1 Suburban West).

“Right now, defensively we’re doing a really good job,” Lindbergh head coach Bill Thoele said.

“We came out and played a little full-court pressure and wore (Northwest) down. But what we need to improve on is our shooting because it took two to three shots before the ball went in.”

Lindbergh jumped out to a 12-5 lead after just one quarter and extended its lead to 25-14 by halftime. Lindbergh’s defense was solid in the second half as the Flyers gave up just 15 points to the Lions in the win over Northwest.

The Flyers’ Brittany Casey led all scorers with 18 points and 10 rebounds in the win over Northwest. Casey also recorded four assists and two steals. She’s currently averaging 14.4 points and 9.4 rebounds a game this season.

“It’s getting to be Brittany’s night just about every night,” Thoele said. “She really makes the effort to be the best player out there on the court.”

The Flyers are back in action at 7 p.m. Friday when they travel to Mehlville (3-2, 0-1 Suburban West).

Mehlville dropped a 42-32 decision to Marquette last week as Chanese Washington led the Panthers with 17 points and nine rebounds in the loss to the Mustangs.

“I think that we match up with (Mehlville) pretty well,” Thoele said. “We’ll want to put a lot of pressure on them and wear them down by the fourth quarter.”