Enterprise’s Shawanda Gray tries to force her way around a Taylorsville defender Tuesday night.

As the regular season comes to a close, Enterprise coach Tim Reid can’t help but feel good about the resolve of his Lady Bulldogs.

Enterprise rallied from a 9-point halftime deficit Tuesday to defeat Taylorsville 37-35 and maintain its grip on second place in the regional standings.

“These kids just never quit,” Reid said. “They fight to the end, and that’s all I can ask for. They give everything they have. The shots don’t fall all the time, but you can control your effort, and I thought we played with great effort in the second half.”

After trailing 12-11 at the end of the first quarter, the second quarter didn’t yield better results for the Lady Bulldogs as they managed just two points in the period, courtesy of a field goal by Hannah Herrington, to trail 22-13 at halftime.

Taylorsville center Kolten Blakeney dominated the paint in the second period and poured in six points to spearhead a quarter in which the Lady Tartars outscored the Lady Bulldogs 10-2.

Taylorsville’s lead wouldn’t last for long.

Sarah Brannan opened the third quarter with an Enterprise (18-2, 4-2) jumper, and Faith Guy followed with a 3-pointer to trim Taylorsville’s lead to 22-18 with 6:40 remaining in the third quarter. 

With 5:09 left in the third period, Brannan swiped the basketball from a Taylorsville (9-9, 2-1) player and tied the score at 24 with a layup. Shawanda Gray gave Enterprise a 26-24 lead with two free throws, and Guy connected on another 3-pointer with 4:18 left in the third to push the Lady Bulldogs ahead 29-24. Herrington swatted a Blakeney shot attempt in the final seconds of the quarter, which drew cheers from the home crowd as Enterprise took a 31-28 lead into the fourth. Enterprise outscored Taylorsville 18-6 in the third quarter and held Blakeney scoreless.

“On the defensive end, we really started trying to get our hands up, be active and deflect some balls,” Reid said. “I thought we were able to do that. They have two pretty good inside players, and we tried to take them away. That’s the goal every time we play them and Bay Springs.”

Taylorsville’s Kywanna Johnson tied the score at 31 with a 3-pointer just 39 seconds into the fourth quarter, and the Lady Tartars went up 35-33 with 4:48 left to play. Guy, however, had an answer for every Taylorsville basket, and her jumper with 3:09 remaining in the fourth knotted the score at 35.

Gray, who returned to Enterprise’s lineup for the first time since suffering an injury in late December, pushed Enterprise ahead 36-35 after going 1 of 2 from the free throw line with 1:49 remaining in the fourth, and she tallied the Lady Bulldogs’ final point with a free throw with 20 seconds left.

“I thought (Shawanda) was big with controlling the tempo and helping bring the ball down,” Reid said. “I thought she helped us tremendously. I don’t think she made a field goal, but she made some free throws and got some opportunities.”

Guy scored a game-high 19 points, while Brannan and Herrington tallied six points apiece. 

Jerryonne Owens paced Taylorsville with 10 points, and Blakeney ended with nine points.

“It’s been great so far,” Reid said. “We’ve been doing well. We had a little lump there when we started division (play) because we had an injury. Then we had another injury, but we’re trying to overcome it and fight, and just continue to get better every day.”

Up next: Enterprise hosts Clarkdale on Feb. 6, while Taylorsville travels to Clarkdale on Feb. 2.

TAYLORSVILLE BOYS 62, ENTERPRISE 33

Jackson Morrow tallied a team-high 16 points and Eli Mabry contributed six points for Enterprise (2-17, 1-5), which suffered a 62-33 home loss to Taylorsville (10-11, 3-3) on Tuesday. 

“First off, congrats to Coach Reid and our girls on another great win,” Enterprise coach Justin Sollie said. “As for our play tonight, we struggled offensively against their press and at the free-throw line. Defensively, we struggled to contest shots and keep them off the boards when they did miss. They’re (Taylorsville) a good team and outplayed us in every area tonight. Dug ourselves a hole we couldn’t climb out of, especially with how well they, especially (Perry) Keyes, was shooting it.”

Up next: Enterprise hosts Clarkdale on Feb. 6, while Taylorsville travels to Clarkdale on Feb. 2.