MALVERN -- Despite an off-night shooting-wise, Fountain Lake held on to defeat Malvern 49-37 at the Leopard Center Tuesday night.
Down by 5 starting the second half, Malvern sophomore Kayla Spencer led off with a steal and bucket to get the Lady Leopards (0-8, 0-3 4A-7) rolling. Senior Viktoria Jengensen then drained back-to-back treys to keep the rally on track to give the Lady Leopards their first lead of the night, 24-21.
Sophomore Bailey Helton then picked up a steal to set up a 3-pointer from senior Karli Bryant to put Fountain Lake (7-7, 1-2) back up 26-24 at the 4:05 mark. More baskets from Jengensen and a pair of free throws from junior Leona Hogan and sophomore Ayanna Johnson knotted the count at 28 entering the fourth quarter.
"Defense and rebounding kept us in it," said Fountain Lake head coach Chris Mungle. "We just didn't -- our offense was good tonight. We got every shot we wanted, we just couldn't make a shot. Missed about 17 free throws. I mean, we're a whole lot better shooting basketball team (than that), but I tell them all the time you got to defend and rebound because, if you defend and rebound, you can win lots of games. And tonight that's what won it for us late. And, you know, right there down the stretch we hit a few shots there in the last four or five minutes that pulled it away, but I was really proud that they kept fighting and found a way to win even though we didn't shoot it very well."
As the lid on the basket remained closed for the Lady Cobras, the Lady Leopards added two more treys from Jengensen and Moore during the first 2 minutes before senior Presley Hamric put up a shot from under the basket. Craver followed with a 3-pointer put the Lady Cobras up 36-35 with 5 minutes remaining.
Craver found Helton inside for a basket before hitting back-to-back jumpers in the lane as the visiting team began to buy time on the clock. Sophomore point guard Kara Martin hit Hamric in transition to break the Lady Leopards press for a 46-35 lead with a minute remaining, and Hamric hit a long 3-pointer at the buzzer to set the final.
"We just kept turning the ball over," noted Malvern head coach Cleveland Gordon after the game. "You know, if we just cut down the turnovers and be patient on our shooting. ... We're coming together. It's been a long year even though it's been a short time. I think we're going to get it. We're going to be alright, if I can get them to be patient and pass the ball more and try to cut down on the turnovers."
The game got off to a slow start with neither team scorning for the first two and a half minutes before Craver found Hamric in the paint. Malvern suffered six turnovers in the opening stanza as Johnson and Jengensen accounted for the Lady Leopards' only 4 points to the Lady Cobras' 12.
Fountain Lake kept the momentum near the end of the first half although junior Ty'leacia Easter scored several quick shots for Malvern to get the Lady Leopards back in the game. Bryant and Easter traded 3-pointers as the half wound down, Easter hitting a pull-up jumper to bring on the break.
Fountain Lake was led by Craver's 16 points, six rebounds, four assists and one steal while Hamric added 14 points, a game-high 14 rebounds, one block and an assist. Bryant finished with 10 points, six rebounds and one assist, Helton had 7 points, two steals, two assists and a rebound and Martin chipped in 4 points, three steals, a block and an assist.
Jengensen had 14 points, six rebounds, one assist and a steal for Malvern while Easter also finished with 14 points, two rebounds, one assist and one steal. Moore and Johnson each added 3 points while sophomore Olivia Petty added 2 points with four rebounds.
The Lady Cobras host DeQueen (5-6, 1-2) Friday night at Sammy Lambert Court at Irvin J. Bass Gymnasium while the Lady Leopards hit the road to take on Hope (1-0, 1-0) Friday night.