On Monday night, the Lewisburg Middle School Tigerettes snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in their season opener when they rallied from a 12-point second half deficit to defeat the Spring Hill Lady Generals 31-28 on the road in overtime.

Spring Hill held a 24-12 lead late in the third quarter and appeared to be in complete control of the contest, but the Tigerettes came storming back and went on a 16-4 run over the final six and a half minutes of regulation to knot the game at 28-28.

Lewisburg then completed the stunning comeback by outscoring the Lady Generals 3-0 in the extra session to escape with the victory.

LMS edge

Although Spring Hill finished with a 13-8 advantage in field goals, the Tigerettes held a 2-0 edge in three-pointers and outscored the Lady Generals 13-2 at the foul line. LMS also outrebounded Spring Hill 29-21 and held a 9-4 advantage on the offensive boards.

Spring Hill did force 21 Lewisburg turnovers with the help of their full court press, but the Tigerettes eventually settled down and turned the ball over just six times in the second half.

"They punched us in the mouth at the start of the game. They hit some shots and we didn't handle their press well. We got a little bit rattled," said Lewisburg coach Chris Coleman. "We started hitting some shots in the second half and slowly got our confidence back. Our energy also started to pick up on the defensive end and we played with more passion. I'm so proud of girls for never quitting and continuing to fight."

Strong night

Sydne Solomon turned in a strong performance in the low post and led the Tigerettes with nine points, 15 rebounds, and three steals. Leah Hollingsworth followed Solomon with eight points, while Demariae Ingram and Taylor Walls both tallied six points. Alli Hobbs chipped in two points for LMS as well.

Jordyn Secrest paced the Lady Generals with 10 points, while Aria Cole added eight points. Emerald Ashley also notched six points for Spring Hill and Destiny Oden had four points.

The Lady Generals knocked Lewisburg back on their heels early on and raced out to a 10-2 lead midway through the first quarter.

After Hollingsworth hit one-of-two free throws to trim the deficit to 10-3 at the end of the first period, Spring Hill outscored the Tigerettes 6-3 in the second quarter to take a 16-6 advantage into the break.

Comeback starts

LMS started to gain their bearings in the second half and narrowed the gap to 18-12 midway through the third quarter thanks to a Hollingsworth foul shot, a layup by Ingram, and a Walls three.

The Lady Generals rattled off six straight points to stretch their lead to 24-12, but Lewisburg put together a 13-2 run behind six points from Solomon, four points from Hollingsworth, and a Walls trey to slice the deficit to 26-25 with 1:34 left in the fourth quarter.

Secrest hit two free throws to give Spring Hill a 28-25 advantage, but Solomon made a pair of foul shots to close the gap to 28-27.

Late run

After Lady General guard Gracie Willett missed the front end of the one-and one, Hobbs was fouled on the rebound attempt and hit the second of two free throws to tie the game at 28-28 with 7.4 seconds left.

Secrest missed a three-pointer on Spring Hill's final possession of regulation before the Tigerettes tallied three points in the first 40 seconds of the overtime period on a Solomon free throw and a runner by Hollingsworth to pull ahead 31-28. LMS then held the Lady Generals scoreless the rest of the way to take home the win.