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Girls:

CALERA – After a wild third quarter that featured two lead changes, the Calera Lady Bulldogs held on in the fourth for a 56-46 victory over the Pittsburg Lady Panthers on Thursday night.

Taylor Pickett set the pace for the Lady Bulldogs with 22 points. Ashlyn Cooper finished with 13 points and scored eight in the fourth quarter. Lynsie Patton scored 10 points, Raylee Rogers scored eight, and Micaela Curtman finished with three points to round out the scoring for Calera.

“I thought we played better defense than we have in while and the game started to change for us in the third quarter,” said Calera head coach Lachelle Brown.

After a back-and-forth first quarter, the Lady Panthers led by five midway through the second. The Lady Bulldogs closed the gap and on the last play of the first half, Pickett scored three points the old-fashioned way to make it 28-26, Pitt.

The Lady Bulldogs tied the game twice before ending the third quarter on a 6-0 scoring run to take a 42-37 lead heading into the fourth. Both teams were in the bonus early in the fourth quarter and the Lady Bulldogs sank some clutch free-throws down the stretch to hang on for the win.

“I thought Taylor (Pickett) and Ashlyn (Cooper) both did a good job tonight and Raylee Rogers also did a good job of shutting down their post player,” said Brown.

The win gives the Lady Bulldogs a regular-season record of 7-5 and they will have several days off before hosting the Colbert Lady Leopards on January 4.

Boys:

The Calera Bulldogs made it look easy against the Pittsburg Panthers in the second game of the evening with a 59-26 win.

Preston Barkley was the leading scorer for the Bulldogs and finished with 17 points. Braxton Barton chipped in 12 points. Dakota Adams and Christian Baker also scored in double-figures with 10 points each.

Barkley scored seven of the first nine Calera points as the Bulldogs jumped out to an early 17-4 lead in the first quarter. Barton and Barkley both scored six in the second quarter and the Bulldogs outscored Pitt 16-7 in the second quarter to take a 33-11 lead into the locker room.

Calera continued to pour it on in the second half and Adams scored eight of his ten points in the third quarter. The Bulldogs mopped things up in the fourth to finish strong.

“I don’t think the guys have really been having too much fun in the last couple of games but tonight they looked a lot more relaxed and enjoyed it,” said Calera head coach Justin Pierce.

Next up on the schedule for the Bulldogs will be a matchup with the Colbert Leopards on January 4.