Mandeville’s Lady Skippers put together a strong defensive fourth quarter Friday night to scratch out a 53-37 non-district victory over the Loranger Lady Wolves at home. MHS senior Amy Howard posted a game-high 19 points, including 7-of-10 from the free throw line in the second half. Freshman Hannah Tracey turned in a strong performance for the Lady Skippers finishing with 15 points. Tracey netted eight of her points in the fourth quarter. Kelsey Sparks chipped in with eight points and did a nice job rebounding for the Lady Skippers, while Mel Gaines added six points in the balanced attack.

MHS (7-6) won its fifth consecutive game, going into yesterday’s district game with St. Scholastica Academy.

Loranger (5-9) got a strong performance from junior Kallie Populis, who collected 17 points to top the Lady Wolves. Populis connected on two 3-pointers. Sophomore Kimberly Culbreath added 10 points and junior Tina Booth had seven for Loranger.

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Mandeville raced out to a 6-0 lead. Tracey hit two free throws followed by a Howard layup. With 6:08 left in the opening quarter, Gaines rebounded a missed shot and scored on a put back to give the Lady Skippers the 6-0 lead.

After building the early lead, MHS struggled offensively, turning the ball over six consecutive times. Mandeville’s poor ball handling then allowed Loranger to get back into the game. The Lady Wolves went on a 6-0 run of their own. Populis hit a long jumper and Booth connected on 4-of-4 free throws to tie the game 6-6 with 3:21 left in the opening quarter. The teams traded baskets before the Lady Skippers’ closed out the quarter notching the next six points. Howard scored two straight baskets and Tracey finished off the scoring with a hoop to give the Lady Skippers a 14-8 lead. MHS’ Sparks tallied six points in the second quarter and Howard added four as the Lady Skippers outscored Loranger 16-15 for a 30-23 halftime advantage.

Howard said it was a big team effort, especially defensively in the fourth quarter.

“It was good to get back on the court after the holiday break. I thought our defense really stepped it up in the second half. We made some key steals, which gave us the momentum. We just knuckled down and made some good stops,” Howard said.

“I think it was important to have a good game before getting back into district play because we have been off for a long time.”

Populis did her best to keep Loranger in the game in the second quarter, scoring seven of the Lady Wolves’ points in the period.

Loranger fought back in the third quarter, outscoring the Lady Skippers 13-6 to tie the game 36-36. Populis led the Loranger charge, netting eight points and Culbreath added three.

With MHS holding a 35-28 lead, the Lady Skippers ball control woes returned as they committed three turnovers and missed a shot, allowing Loranger back into the game. The Lady Wolves reeled off six unanswered points to trim the Mandeville lead to 35-34 with 3:28 left in the third quarter. Howard made 1-of-2 free throws for Mandeville and Populis hit a basket for Loranger with 1:34 left to tie things at 36-all.

MHS turned the ball over on its final three possessions of the period, while Loranger missed two shots and committed a turnover.

Mandeville dominated the action early in the fourth quarter with an aggressive defense. The Lady Skippers throttled Loranger’s offense holding the Lady Wolves to just one point, a free throw by Baileigh Bankston with just under two minutes to play.

After scoring the first four points of the final period, MHS’ Tracey made a steal and was fouled driving to the basket.

Tracey connected on both charity tosses to make it 42-36 with 5:35 left. MHS freshman Katie Lindelow made an athletic steal leaping in the air before going out of bounds and passed the ball to Howard at the free throw line, who hit Tracey inside.

Tracey finished off the layup to give the Lady Skippers an eight-point lead. The Mandeville defense took care of the rest en route to the 16-point victory.

Tracey said Mandeville’s quickness in the second half made the difference. “We’re always ready to press. We like to press off of free throws. We stepped it up on the defensive end in the fourth quarter,” Tracey said.