The scoreboard following Friday night’s Selma-Sidney Lanier girls’ game should have been a cause for celebration from Lady Saints’ coach Anthony Harris.

It wasn’t.

The Lady Saints overcame a 23-turnover night to beat the Sidney Lanier Lady Poets, 61-54. Selma, which came into the game tied with Dothan for the No. 10 ranking in the state’s Class 6A poll, improved to 12-3 overall and 4-1 in the area.

However, Harris was livid with his team’s work against the Lady Poets.

“That’s the worst I’ve seen us play in two years,” Harris said after the Lady Saints were just 2-for-14 from the field in the third period and nearly blew a 16-point halftime lead. “Performance-wise, we just blew up. We got selfish. We stunk the place up in the third quarter.”

Selma came out of halftime with a 39-23 lead. But for much of the third period, it looked as if Lanier was the team in control. The Lady Poets struck early and often in the third, with a 12-foot jumper from Ebony Jones and Kenya Moore’s three-pointer from the left corner pulling the Lady Poets to within 39-28.

Moore added a driving lay-up from the right wing and Jasmyne Melson sank a pair of free throws to cut the gap to 39-32.

Selma didn’t score in the second half until Ashley Green’s three-pointer from the top of the key pushed the lead back to 42-32.

Selma’s only other points in the quarter came on a Shameika Simpson free throw and an over-the-shoulder lay-up by Green that gave the Lady Saints a 45-34 lead.

Lanier methodically dismantled the Lady Saints for the remainder of the third period. The Lady Poets penetrated the Selma defense for quick and easy scores to get back into the game.

Katya Melson first hit a lay-up to bring the Lady Poets to within nine, 45-36. She then hit a pull-up jumper from the top of the key, just inside the three-point arch, to make it a 45-38 game.

Moore added a pair of short-range jumpers to close the period and narrow Selma’s lead to 45-42.

Lanier twice cut the margin to two points, the final time coming on two free throws from Katya Melson that made it a 50-48 game with 4:19 to go.

But the Lady Saints scored the next six points to widen the gap to 56-48.

Erica Lumpkin hit the offensive boards for a key rebound and put-back, and Amina Wofford drove to her left around two Lanier defenders, then passed Richelle Jones on the baseline for the easy lay-up and an eight-point Selma lead.

The Lady Poets never challenged for the lead after that.

“We’ve just got to keep working,” Harris said after the win.