By JASON STEIN

cnsports@crescent-news.com

In a game that started out looking eerily similar to the first game of the season for Defiance, it turned out to be an exciting late, fourth-quarter triumph as the Lady Bulldogs clawed their way back from an early 14-point deficit to knock off Patrick Henry 59-52 in their home opener.

Defiance drained 9-of-18 treys in the contest, including three in the final two and a half minutes to seal the win and improve to 1-1 on the season.

"I was thinking the same thing, a repeat of Friday," said Defiance head coach Amy Unverferth. "In the beginning of the game they had easy shots, but after that first few minutes, we actually started rebounding and stopped penetration a little bit better. So, defensively we started to play a little bit better, which led to our offense picking up."

After clawing their way back from the early 14-point deficit to trail just 30-27 at the half, Jaide Hoellrich scored nine third-quarter points, including a bucket from the wing to finish off one of Kiersten Lehman's seven assists which gave the Bulldogs their first lead of the contest, 39-38 with 20 seconds left to play in the third.

Already with eight points and two threes in the contest, the fourth-quarter scoring belonged to Abby Gonzales of Defiance.

Gonzales sent a perfect lob over a defender into the hands of Anna Schrag for two to tie the game at 46-46, before the 5-foot junior came up big from beyond the arc ... twice.

The first three, her third of the night, followed a steal by Renee Riedel on the defensive end gave DHS a 49-46 lead to 2:30 to play. Tiffany Ehlers pulled PH to within one on a bucket following a timeout, but the Bulldogs came up big after a timeout of their own.

With Kiersten Lehman inbounding the ball, Gonzales came streaking across the court and through a screen. Lehman passed her the ball, and for the second time in less than a minute, she buried the three to push the lead to 52-48 with 1:58 left to play.

"One of our options is for Gabby to come off the screen for a 3-point shot," Unverferth said of the set play coming out of the timeout. "She was a little bit cold in scrimmages and at Napoleon, but man she played great tonight."

"We just needed to come back and everybody was getting me open, so I just had to come through for them," said Gonzales."

Saige Meyer and Ashley Christman each scored for PH on either side of a pair of misses at the line for DHS, with Christman's bucket knotting the game at 52-52 with one minute remaining.

But the Bulldogs were not to be denied.

With 41 seconds left, Gonzales found Mikaela Tolbert on the wing where she made the mid-range jumper to quickly give the home team back the lead.

Following a Meyer miss and a Lehman rebound, Hoellrich launched a 3-pointer instead of holding the ball, or waiting to be fouled or running out the clock.

With chants of "No!" echoing through the building and Unverferth with her hands on her head, the senior drained the shot and quickly turned the "No's" into cheers as her shot sealed the deal with 10 seconds remaining.

"You've got to be confident," said Hoellrich who finished with 14 points. "You have to have that confidence because if you don't, you're not going to do anything."

Gonzales, who chipped in with four assists, four rebounds and three steals, made two free throws to cap off her 18-point performance which included a perfect 4-for-4 from the line in the fourth quarter.

Riedel added 11 points and three steals for Defiance while Emily McGraw added 11 points and six rebounds for PH.

Early on, Patrick Henry shot lights out, making six straight field goals its first miss, while pressuring the home team into making mistakes. Led by Ehlers, who scored nine of her team-high 17 points in the first eight minutes, the Lady Patriots led 24-10.

But Defiance, which committed eight first-quarter turnovers, settled down and turned its fortunes around in the second quarter.

The Lady 'Dogs outscored PH 13-6 in the second stanza, shrinking a PH 10-point lead down to just three points by halftime.

"We've been having that problem the whole year," commented PH head coach Paul Phillips. "We do it in spurts and then everyone takes time off. One person gets a little lazy here or there and the next thing you know they've made their run. You have to play 32 minutes and we're just not doing it."

BOX SCORE

PATRICK HENRY (52) - Ehlers 17; McGraw 11; Christman 8; Meyer 6; Seemann 5; Hoffman 3; Gebers 2; Badenhop 0. Totals 23-55 2-6 52.

DEFIANCE (59) - Gonzales 18; Hoellrich 14; Riedel 11; Tolbert 9; Schrag 4; Tumblin 3; Lehman 0. Totals 20-48 10-15 59.

Three-point goals: Patrick Henry - (Christman, Ehlers, Hoffman, Seemann), Defiance - (Gonzales 4, Riedel 3, Hoellrich, Tumblin). Rebounds: Patrick Henry 25 (McGraw 6), Defiance 29 (Hoellrich 7, Tolbert 6, Schrag 5). Turnovers: Patrick Henry 15, Defiance 17.

Pat. Henry 24 6 8 14 - 52

Defiance 14 13 12 20 - 59

Reserves: Patrick Henry, 25-21.