Jemison’s girls basketball team built a 10-point halftime lead only to lose it in the third period but still won on Tuesday, 41-35 over Isabella.

The Panthers (6-7, 1-2 area) led 18-8 at halftime but were outscored 20-4 in the third quarter as IHS switched to a Box-and-1 defense.

Seniors Whitney Smith (13 points) and Amber Wyatt (7) scored all of Isabella’s points in the period.

But homestanding Jemison responded in the fourth and took a 33-32 lead with about 2 minutes remaining in the game—and put the game away with about 1 minute left when Shayna Robinson made the first free throw during a trip to the line, missed the second but grabbed her own rebound and put it in for a 37-35 lead.

“We did a better job on defense on them,” Jemison coach Stacy McGehee said about the fourth period compared to the third. “It’s just the effort the girls want to give.”

Kelsey Mims led Jemison with 16 points; she also had seven steals.

Tika Nunn scored six points, with three of them coming on four free throw attempts in the final period. Nunn pulled down 14 rebounds.

Smith scored a game-high 20 points, and Wyatt posted 15 points.