In a close matchup, the Selma Lady Saints were able to hold on to defeat the rival Southside Lady Panthers 42-31 at home on Saturday in a non-area game.

Anthony Harris, head girls basketball coach of Selma (15-9, 3-1), said the Lady Saints started slow, but fought for a tough win.

“We kind of picked it up a little bit defensively. We started chasing the ball, they turned it over and we got some easy baskets,” Harris said. “Free throws hurt us. We went 13 for 33, but I keep telling them that you’ve got to come out and play. We came out slow playing. They’ve got to pick up the momentum in order to be successful. Southside played us tough. They came out and won that first half. We pulled it out, though. My hat goes off to Southside.”

Jason Bothwell, head girls basketball coach of Southside (7-13, 2-2), said his team was hurt by poor free throw shooting.

“It was a stretch in the third quarter where they went to the free throw line maybe three consecutive times and knocked their free throws down,” Bothwell said. “The thing that bit us was that we only shot 4 for 17 from the free throw line. The game was more than winnable. We put ourselves in some good positions, but the thing that came back to bite us was the free throws.”

The Lady Saints held an 18-17 lead early in the third until Southside’s Sharmynn Anderson hit a shot in the paint to give the Lady Panthers a 19-18 lead with 6:37 left in the third.

Southside extended its lead to 20-18 with a Tanisha Blevins free throw, but the Lady Saints tied it at 20-20 with a jumper by Takeesha Wilson with 5:55 left in the quarter.

The Lady Saints kept their momentum going, as Kendra McCovery scored on back-to-back possessions, with Wilson and Brenna Porter each hitting a free throw to make it 26-20 with 2:59 left in the third.

Southside finally responded when Blevins hit a shot under the basket to make it 26-22 with 2:16 left.

Selma’s Areyanna Williams scored in the paint, but Blevins scored again to make it a 28-24 game going into the fourth.

The Lady Saints opened the final quarter strong, scoring the first five points of the quarter to take a 33-24 lead with 5:36 left.

Ki’Onna Likely and Calvondrea Blackmon scored back-to-back baskets for Southside to make it 33-28 with 4:38 left, but Porter scored a pair of baskets and the Lady Saints scored nine of the game’s final 14 points.

Porter led the Lady Saints with 14 points, 13 rebounds, and 2 blocks.

McCovery had 10 points and 7 steals, while Williams had 7 points and 5 rebounds for Selma.

Likely had 11 points for Southside, while Blevins had 10 points for the Lady Panthers.

Southside will play again Tuesday at Opp in an area game, while the Lady Saints will be at home on Tuesday at 5 p.m. against Demopolis in a key area contest.