Gordon Lee High School's Sarah Meadows (5) drives down the court as Heritage High defenders chase during the second half at the General's home court.RINGGOLD, Ga. - Gordon Lee girls' basketball coach Lester Galyon couldn't remember the last time his program had lost three consecutive games. Because of Friday night, it's not a stat he'll have to look up again for a while.
The Lady Trojans used a pair of second-half runs to pull away from Heritage and win 60-49. It was the second straight Friday that the teams had played at Heritage, as Gordon Lee's gym is still going through some renovations.
Gordon Lee (3-2) had lost to Sonoraville and Heritage in back-to-back games but got a balanced performance Friday. Abbey Bohannon led the team with 18 points, whie Tiffany Holland had a solid all-around game with 10 points, eight assists and seven steals.
The perimeter game was aided by the inside presence of sisters Katelyn and Madelyn Lee, who combined for 14 points and 21 rebounds. The 6-foot-3 Katelyn, who has signed with NCAA Division I member Grand Canyon University, added three assists and three blocks.
"We knew it was going to be a dogfight again," Galyon said. "They have some good outside shooters, but it was important for us to keep our inside players on the floor. I'm happy to get out of here with a win. That Heritage team is going to win 20 or more games this year."
A week earlier, the Generals' Alex Belk and Jada Hubbard burned the Lady Trojans from 3-point range. Friday night they were effective, combining for 23 points, but after hot-shooting first quarters they cooled off late. The Generals (7-2) also fell victim to poor foul shooting, finishing 9-for-25 from the line.
"I tell the girls every day, free throws will lose you a lot of games. We had been shooting them well, but tonight we didn't," Heritage coach Eddie Bryant said.
Gordon Lee held a 29-27 lead at haltime and started to take control of the game with a 11-3 third-quarter run in which Bohannon had seven of her points. The Generals closed to within 49-43 on a reverse layup by Haley Hixon with 7:07 left in the game, but the Lady Trojans responded with a 10-2 spurt -- the Lee sisters connecting on a couple of high-low opportunities for scores.
The lead swelled to 16 before the final buzzer, as Heritage made only three baskets in the fourth quarter.
"Last time we played them, we had the same shot opportunities, but we weren't making them," Galyon said. "Then we weren't looking inside. The thing I'm most proud of is that we didn't allow any transition baskets tonight -- they hurt us last time.
"I thought we made a concerted effort to stop them there."
Belk led the Generals with 13 points.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6311. Follow him at twitter.com/genehenleytfp.