TENNERTON – You will have to excuse the No. 8 Class AAAA Buckhannon-Upshur Lady Bucs for coming out a little flat against the No. 8 Class AAA Philip Barbour Colts Thursday night at the high school gym.

The Lady Bucs were coming off a huge road win against sectional foe University Tuesday night, and trailed the Colts by a 19-15 score after one quarter of play.

Buckhannon-Upshur turned up the defensive intensity and held the Colts to just 25 points in the final three quarters for an impressive 65-44 win.

“We can’t give up 19 points in a quarter,” stated Buckhannon-Upshur head coach Rob Kittle. “The difference the rest of the game was how we played defensively. We decided after the first quarter to get down to playing our style of basketball and play some defense, and it really changed the complexion of the game. We had an emotional high after that University win, it was nice to see us have the composure to come back and play three really good quarters against a solid Philip Barbour team.”

The Lady Bucs trailed early 4-2 before Shelby McDaniels put in five straight points to give B-U a 7-4 lead.

A lay-up by Kenna Maxwell gave the Lady Bucs a 15-14 lead but Philip Barbour scored the final five points of the quarter for their 19-15 lead.

The Lady Bucs ramped it up on both sides of the ball in the second quarter, outscoring Philip Barbour by a 25-10 margin.

B-U came out and hit consecutive treys from Gabby Parke and McDaniels to take the lead back at 21-19.

Sara Simon hit a basket for the Colts, tying the game at 21-21, but B-U went on an 8-0 run for a 29-21 advantage with 4:39 remaining in the half.

Up by 10, at 34-24, Maxwell turned in a rare four-point play when she made a three-pointer and was fouled on the attempt, making the free throw and upping the B-U lead to 18, at 38-24.

The Colts went on a mini 5-0 run but Kendal Currence scored from the paint to end the half, giving the Lady Bucs a 40-29 lead at the intermission.

The Buckhannon-Upshur defense limited the Colts to just five points in the third quarter. Their biggest lead of the quarter was 30 points, at 61-31, after Parke drained a three-pointer.

B-U owned a 61-34 lead going into the final quarter. With Kittle subbing freely in the fourth quarter, the Colts took the final quarter by a 10-4 margin.

McDaniels led all scorers with 21 points while Parke added 12 and Maxwell 11.

Currence, who filled out her stat line with eight points, six rebounds, four assists and three blocks, said about the win, “Our defense was a big factor. We started out slow tonight but came out and played some great defense after that and really shut them down.”

Kittle said he was pleased with his team’s performance despite the slow start.

“We had three players reach double figures and two more just on the fringe of getting 10 points,” stated Kittle. “We were just so balanced. From that first quarter on, we did our job, made that extra pass and played as a team. It was just a great team effort.”

LaDonna Herron led Philip Barbour with nine points, who dropped to 7-5 on the year.

The Lady Bucs, winners of four in a row, are now 11-3 on the season. They will return to action Saturday hosting Braxton County at 6:45 p.m.