For Keith, the third time was the charm in a 46-42 win over Southside on Friday.

After falling to Southside twice this season, the Bears earned a road win by keeping the Panthers off-balance. Keith gained the win through rebounding and post-play.

“Tonight we played pretty good,” said Keith coach Cecil Williams. “We didn’t handle the pressure too well, but our big girls stepped up for us real big tonight. They boxed out better and rebounded real well.”

By the time Southside (11-4) got untracked, it was too late.

“I told my girls, ‘No team is just going to allow you to continue to beat up on them,’” said Southside coach Wanda Tyler. “I admire their play. They never give up. That should be to their confidence to have beaten us.”

The Bears used an early 9-3 run sparked by an Alexus Young 3-pointer to forge ahead 13-6. A Jasmine Thomas layup with nine seconds left in the second quarter gave Keith a 21-14 advantage at the break.

A Regina Bartholomew steal and layup trimmed the Panthers’ deficit to 23-20 with 6:28 remaining in the third quarter. But the Bears answered with an 8-0 run to extend the lead to 11. A Jessica Dukes jump shot with 5:13 left in the game pushed Keith’s lead to 42-29, but that’s when Southside made its move.

A Shaniqua Williams jump shot ignited a 11-2 run to cut the Bears’ lead to 44-40 with 1:23 left in the game. But a Deondre Sander layup put the Bears (3-11) back up by four, and Dukes dribbled out the clock to seal the win.

Sander led the Bears with 12 points. Jasmine Thomas and Brianna Rayford finished with 11 points apiece.

Williams led all scorers with 21 points. Africa Tyler was the Panthers’ second leading scorer with nine points.