TonganoxieMirror.com

The McLouth High girls basketball team won its fourth straight game on Friday with a 41-39 victory over Valley Falls.

The Bulldogs, who picked up their sixth victory in seven games, were down 11 at halftime but turned things around in the final 16 minutes of action.

After hitting just four of 21 shot attempts before the break, coach Bob Good made an adjustment and his team responded, going 14-for-25 from the floor in the second half.

“We tried to speed the game up in the second half and we were able to force some turnovers off our press,” Good said.

In one fourth-quarter sequence, senior Missy Rome hit two free throws, then got a steal and a layup out of the press.

“I think that little flurry was the first time in the game we had the lead,” Good said. “Our defense got a lot more active as the game went on and that was really the key to the game.”

In the opening minutes of the third quarter, MHS (10-5) trailed 24-11, but recovered to outscore VFHS 18-12 in the third and held the visitors to seven fourth-quarter points while scoring 14 in the final period.

“I would rather we put the games away early,” Good said, “but I am proud of how the girls work so hard to find a way to win.”

Senior Kylie Shufflebarger led McLouth with 16 points (scoring 13 in the second half) and four blocked shots but the team got plenty of production from multiple sources.

Cassidy Bristol and Morgan Drinnon both pulled down seven rebounds.

Rome, who scored 13 points, was one of three players with three assists (Shufflebarger and Terri Stewart also passed out three).

Plus, Stewart, Bristol, Shufflebarger and Rome all had two steals.

The Bulldogs are back in action on Tuesday, when they travel to Troy for a 6 p.m. tip.