Staff photo by TOM KING Hollis Brookline's Amanda Goclowski tries to push along the baseline against the defense of Pelham's Megan Molettieri during the Cavs' 55-45 win on Thursday night in Hollis.

HOLLIS – If you look hard enough, you can spot it.

We’re talking about the bullseye on the backs of the Hollis Brookline girls basketball jerseys.

The defending Division II champion Cavaliers know they are the hunted this season, but on Thursday night they responded well to the latest challenge with a 55-45 home court win over pesky Pelham to improve to 4-1 on the young season.

“We’ve got a target on our back, so to speak,” Cavs coach Bob Murphy said. “They (Pelham, 2-3) came out shooting, they played well. … I’m glad some of our kids came and hit some foul shots at the end, key layups, and Elizabeth Atkinson with her height advantage (6-foot-1) was a big help.”

“We need about eight more inches to cover her,” Pelham coach Bob Shepard said. “Excellent team, well-coached team. But we’re happy with what we did here today. If we can play the rest of our games like this, we’ll get a lot of wins.”

Atkinson was huge, literally and figuratively, as she had 16 points to lead the locals, plus 11 rebounds. She knows this is a different year in terms of teams gunning for the Cavs. They needed that as Pelham’s outside game was tough, as shown by Olivia Gagnon’s 20 points.

“It’s a lot of pressure but I think we’re doing well, keeping under control and playing our game,” Atkinson said. “We’ve been working on that, working our shots and getting into the low post.”

Atkinson fought double and triple teams, but her bucket with three seconds left in the half gave the Cavs a 24-22 lead, finishing an 8-0 run.

HB had a similar 5-0 run to end the third for a 41-37 lead. Then another of last year’s keys, point guard Christina Balsamo, had a huge 3 pointer and a big assist as the Cavs took control at 46-37 just over a minute into the final period.

“That was pretty,” Murphy said. “That’s why she’s got her ball in her hands most of the time, at the point guard position. She’s good.”

Balsamo finished with eight points and four assists. Keley Brodie had 11 while Liz Bonnette added 10.

“And we were determined to shut Balsamo down,” Shepard said. “We did a pretty good job. But that was kind of the end right there.”

Well, almost. The Pythons (2-3) got to within five, but Amanda Goclowski had a big layup to help stop the threat and then Pelham went cold. The Cavs hit five of eight free throws in the fourth to ice it. Now it’s on to a pressure free holiday tourney next week at Salem and then open up the two-month meat of the season at Bow on Jan. 4.

“It’s a lot higher level, I feel like,” Atkinson said. “But we come in to practice every day and we’re doing everything we can to defend our title.”