ORVILLE – It took almost 32 minutes of pressure defense by the Keith Lady Bears before they could pull away with a 46-24 win over the Marbury Lady Bulldogs on Friday night.

“We wanted this game to be the game that prepares us for R. C. Hatch,” Keith coach Raymond Rucker said. “But I think our girls looked pass this game. It was a win for us and we’ll take it, but it’s sometimes how you win.

“Don’t take anything from Marbury,” Rucker added, “because they came to play.”

Both teams pressured the ball in the first quarter to create turnovers and keep the score low. The quarter ended in Keith’s favor, 6-4.

Following a Keith basket, Marbury hit a three-pointer early in the second quarter to come within a point.

But Marbury turned the ball over several times in the second quarter as the Lady Bears outscored the Lady Bulldogs 10-1 for the remainder of the period and took an 18-8 halftime lead.

Marbury came out the gates early in the third quarter with balanced scoring, aggressive defense, and a 7 &110; 2 run in the first five minutes to close the gap to five. Keith turned things around to finish the quarter up 26 &110; 17. In the 4th quarter Keith spread the floor with their offense, which created some easy baskets and gave them a 10-point advantage 31 &110; 21 with 3:23 left in the game. The Lady Bears outscored the Lady Dawgs 15 &110; 3 the rest of the way. Final score: 46 &110; 24.

"This was a big game for us, because it was an area game,&uot; said Marbury coach Wyteria Simmons. "Keith played a very physical game and we didn’t play as physical as we could.&uot; Both teams committed many turnovers in this contest, but the Keith offense showed up when needed.

Shauntey Gooden led the way for Keith (6 &110; 4) with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Latoria Gray added 11 and Van Lisa Jones scored 10. Whitney Tew and Jessica Shirley scored 6 points each for Marbury who’s record is 5 &110; 6, 0 &110; 3 in area.