No. 7 Stephenville used a 15-4 fourth-quarter run to upset No. 6 Glen Rose 40-34 behind a 16-point night from senior post Alee McClendon Tuesday night at Gandy Gym.
The win improves the Honeybees’ record to 14-1 on the year and 1-0 in District 6-4A play. Stephenville had a bye in the opening week of league play, while Glen Rose opened with a win over Brownwood.
With the Lady Tigers at 1-0 in district play, there was an atmosphere of the Bees being behind from the opening tipoff, but Stephenville took firm control to lead 10-5 midway through the first quarter.
The Bees got some early opportunities at the free-throw line, and Jaylee Matthews punched in 3-of-4 shots, and McClendon began her night with five points over the first eight minutes.
A bucket at the buzzer pulled Glen Rose to within 10-7, heading into the second period. Stephenville stayed on top as Landri Withers, Mya Wilson, and McClendon combined for a 12-10 advantage and a 22-17 halftime lead.
“We missed a couple of block-outs, and they scored off of those. Then we went under their screen a couple of times, and they hit threes on us,” Coach Jason Hodges. “We talked about the adjustments we needed to make during halftime.”
The Lady Tigers turned up the heat in the third quarter and stifled Stephenville’s offense to just three points, and it left the Bees trailing 27-25.
Stephenville needed to shift gears and speed up its play after not finding the mark from long-range, and even when the Bees stepped closer to the basket, their shots were not falling.
“Glen Rose is always going to come prepared to play, and they are a great defensive team,” Hodges said. “That was the type of game they wanted to play.”
The key to winning turned out to be the same as it was in the first half, and that was to drive the paint to score or draw a foul, and the Bees did both.
Stephenville also mounted its best basketball of the night on defense, pulling down defensive rebounds and forcing the Lady Tigers into four straight possessions without any points.
Zoe Birdwell’s rebound and quick bucket off a missed free throw to make it 34-31 ignited the start of the Bees’ run over the final minutes, and Mya Wilson saved her best for last as she scored six of her eight points in the fourth quarter.
Jade Wilson also got into the scoring in the final minutes with a basket, Matthews added two more free throws, and McClendon finished with three more.
Following McClendon’s game-high 16 points was W. Wilson with 8, Withers 6, Matthews 5, J, Wilson 2 and Birdwell 2.
Stephenville travels to Lampasas Tuesday for a 6:30 p.m. game against the Lady Badgers (16-3).
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