Special to the Reporter

Midway through the 2003-04 season, the Montevallo High School girls basketball team has become a true comeback squad. Last week, coach Tena Niven’s Lady Bulldogs twice bounced back from early deficits to knock off Dallas County and Shelby County, improving their season mark to 7-5.

Montevallo 60,

Dallas County 44

MHS trailed 17-12 after the first quarter, but outscored the Lady Hornets 19-11 in the second period to take a slim 31-28 halftime lead.

With Dallas County determined to stop the inside threat of senior center Kinyatta Hayes, Montevallo unleashed a blistering attack from the perimeter, tallying 20 points to the Lady Hornets’ eight in the third quarter to put the game away. During that period, MHS got 3-point baskets from Haley Dennis, Ashley Ebrahimi and Lakeisha Brown to lead the offensive outburst.

Ebrahimi led all scorers with 20 points, while Hayes added 14 points and 15 rebounds. Junior forward Samantha Spradlin added 10 points and 11 rebounds. Dennis was responsible for the even distribution of offense, dishing out eight assists from the point.

Montevallo 59, Shelby County 50

Shelby County came into Montevallo’s Susie DeMent Gymnasium with an upset in mind, and for two quarters, it looked good for the Lady Wildcats. SCHS jumped out to a 13-9 lead in the opening period and extended it to 34-22 by the intermission.

In the third quarter, however, the Lady Bulldogs turned up the defensive pressure to create some offensive opportunities. The strategy worked, with MHS taking the lead for a short time and entering the fourth quarter tied at 40 apiece.

From there, it was all Montevallo, as Hayes picked up half of her 16 points and 12 rebounds in the final period to lead her squad to the nine-point victory.

Dennis added 12 points and five assists, while Ebrahimi contributed nine points. Telea Naugher came off the bench to pull down eight boards.

This week, the Lady Bulldogs will host John Carroll on Tuesday night before traveling to Holt for an important area contest on Friday night