Lady Trojans comeback to corral Lady Colts

It’s a formula that has worked for the Gordon Lee Trojans for well over 15 years now: play pressure defense, force turnovers and convert those turnovers into points.

Tuesday night, it worked again when they needed it the most.

Gordon Lee ratcheted up the defensive pressure in the fourth quarter and turned a two-point deficit into a 41-36, season-opening home win over Coahulla Creek.

The Lady Trojans had a 9-4 lead after the end of the first quarter, thanks in part to a buzzer-beating, bank shot 3-pointer by Katherine Grace McElhaney. Back-toback 3-pointers By Faith Alexander and Katelyn Bickett in the second quarter would extend the lead to 17-7 with 4:14 left in the half.

The Lady Colts responded with an 11-0 run, keyed by a pair of 3-pointers from Lily Snyder, that gave the visitors an 18-17 lead with under a minute to go. Gordon Lee, however, would get the lead back as freshman Gracie O’Neal scored on a put-back with 27 seconds left that turned out to be the final points of the half.

Coahulla Creek scored just nine points in the third quarter, but held the Lady Trojans to just six as they took a 27-25 advantage into the fourth.

But Gordon Lee would have the answer in the final eight minutes.

Alexander scored seven of her team-high 14 points in the final period, while O’Neal chipped in with a pair of buckets. McElhaney and Molly Thomison combined to go 5 of 8 from the foul line down the stretch to help Gordon Lee pull away.

Free throw shooting played a role as the Lady Trojans were 9 of 14 in the game. The Lady Colts, meanwhile, made good on just 5 of their 14 attempts.

“It was a nip-andtuck game all the way through, but our girls did a great job of turning up the intensity in the fourth quarter,” head coach Kevin McElhaney explained. “We had multiple steals and got conversion and fouls out of them.”

O’Neal finished with nine points, while McElhaney and Thomison added six apiece.

Snyder and Allie Young led the Lady Colts with eight points each.

“We had some growing to do (since the scrimmage),” McElhaney added. “A lot of our girls were involved in softball, volleyball, cross country or cheerleading so this past week, after our scrimmage (at LFO), was really the first week we’ve had everybody out on the floor.

“We showed some growth between the scrimmage and tonight. Now we’ve got to prepare for a good Heritage team next week so we’re just looking to keep growing until then.”

The Lady Trojans (10) will play at Heritage on Friday, starting at 7 p.m. They will host Dade County on Saturday, beginning at 4.