The South Decatur Lady Cougars had the early momentum, but it was the host Lady Bulldogs who had it when is counted most.

The Batesville girls varsity basketball team benefited from an aggressive trapping defense to defeat the Lady Cougars 55-46 Saturday afternoon.

The Lady Cougars were on the mark early in the game and jumped out to a 10-4 lead. A 3-pointer by South’s Kieghlea Owens extended the lead to nine points and forced a Batesville time out with 3:28 to play in the opening quarter.

The Lady Bulldogs settled down and kept the South lead to eight points by the end of the quarter.

A more aggressive approach by the Lady Bulldogs seemed to turn the momentum in the second quarter. Back-to-back field goals by Julie Meyer and Madison Lamppert closed the first half and drew the Lady Bulldogs to 20-18.

Batesville first tied the game at 20-20 on a field goal by Amanda Nobbe.

The Lady Cougars regrouped following a time out by coach LuAnn Gant. Jamie Huff sparked South with four unanswered points to make it a 26-22 advantage.

The lead did not last long as the Lady Bulldogs stormed back to take their first lead since the early stages of the game. A break away lay up by Amy Wuestefeld put the Lady Bulldogs on top 28-26 with 2:26 to play in the third quarter.

The Batesville lead grew to six points before a field goal by South’s Haley Holdreith at the 1:30 mark.

The third quarter ended with the Lady Bulldog in front 35-32.

The margin grew to nine points on a 3-pointer from the wing by Wuestefeld at the 1:55 mark. South would get only as close as seven points the rest of the way.

Batesville was led in scoring by Wuestefeld with 19 points and Samantha Nobbe with eight. A total of 10 players scored for coach Jason Slopsema’s crew.

South Decatur got a team high 12 points from Owens followed by Huff with nine.

The Lady Bulldogs broke a four game losing streak and improved to 4-4 on the season, while South Decatur dropped to 4-4.

Batesville wins JV