The Minford Lady Falcons captured a Division III girls basketball sectional championship on Saturday night, defeating Coal Grove 55-40 at Northwest High School.

Courtesy of Patrick Phillips of Glory Days Photography

McDERMOTT — The Minford Lady Falcons outscored Coal Grove 12-6 in the fourth period, and held on to win 55-40 to take home the Division III girls basketball sectional crown on Saturday night at Northwest High School.

Minford, the No. 6 seed in the Southeast District Division III tournament, improved to 18-5 on the year — and were led by 6-3 junior Lindsee Williams, who scored 16 points and pulled down eight rebounds.

Minford junior center Lindsee Williams (15)

Courtesy of Erica Fike

“We really had to push because we were struggling a little in the first half,” Williams said. “The second half we played better and more as a team. I feel like I played well on the boards. I missed some shots but came back and hit some free throws when it counted.”

The Lady Falcons got a bucket from Marlee Pendleton off an assist from Williams — making the lead 45-34 to start the final period.

Minford junior Marlee Pendleton (21)

Courtesy of Erica Fike

A power drive by Maggie Risner lifted the Minford lead to 47-34.

Minford’s Maggie Risner (1) and Coal Grove’s Kinsey Keeney (4)

Courtesy of Erica Fike

The Lady Hornets (10-13) tried to rally — when Alivia Noel banged in a three-pointer to make the score 49-37.

Noel, a 5-7 senior, poured in 22 points for No. 19 seed Coal Grove in the loss.

But Minford countered with Williams free throws— and a strong drive to the hole for two from Lexi Conkel for the 55-37 advantage.

Conkel finished with 11 points for the Lady Falcons.

“We kind of struggled to get into the groove of things early on,” Conkel said. “I knew I had to start knocking down some shots to get the team going. We got some momentum in the second half, and we stepped it up and came out with the win.”

After two Kendall Taylor free throws gave the Lady Hornets an early 7-3 first-quarter lead, Minford went on a 9-2 run — highlighted by six points from Williams and a Conkel trifecta.

Minford picked up where it left off early in the second period — when Williams banked in a leaner, and Kynedi Davis nailed a three-pointer from an assist by Conkel for the 17-9 lead.

But the Lady Hornets buzzed back, and pulled to within one point at 22-21 with 41 seconds left in the period — when Noel completed a three-point play.

“We came out sleepwalking to start this game,” Minford head coach Chuck Miller said. “We were not ready to play — I’ll take blame for that — we had to buckle down and we did on both ends of the court.”

An offensive rebound and bucket from Williams, and a putback for two at the buzzer by Marlee Pendleton, gave the Lady Falcons a 27-21 lead at the break.

Minford outrebounded the Lady Hornets 35-20 on the night.

“We have a nice size advantage against most teams we play,” Miller added. “We like to get the ball inside to our post players and hit the offensive boards. That inside play stretched it out enough for us to win.”

The Lady Falcons came out hot in the third quarter — when Conkel swished a corner three-pointer, and that was followed by a Lexi Pendleton runner and the 32-21 lead.

Back-to-back buckets from Baylee Hammonds then boosted the Lady Falcon lead to 41-31 with 2:37 left in the third.

After Noel knocked down another three-pointer for Coal Grove, Lainey Howard made good on an offensive rebound for Minford — and a 43-34 lead after three quarters.

“We have a lot to work on,” Miller said. “We are going to have to play better man-to-man defense. We gave up too many uncontested shots tonight. We didn’t box out that well and need to take better care of the ball. We are glad we got it (sectional championship) and we are moving on, but we have some things to work on.”

The win clinched the second consecutive sectional championship for the Lady Falcons, which played Peebles at home last season —and won a close contest.

Minford moves on to Thursday night’s Southeast District Division III semifinal —where the Lady Falcons face seventh-seeded Lynchburg-Clay (18-5).

Tipoff time is set for 8 p.m. at Waverly’s Downtown Arena.

The Lady Mustangs advanced by defeating Wheelersburg 56-45 in another Saturday night sectional championship game.

* * *

Coal Grove 9 12 13 6 —40

Minford 12 15 16 12 —55

COAL GROVE 40 (10-14)

Kendall Taylor 2 3-4 7, Kinsey Keeney 1 1-2 4, Alivia Noel 7 3-3 22, Emma Lively 2 0-0 6, Jenna Anson 0 1-4 1; TOTALS 12 8-13 40; Three-point goals: 8 (Kinsey Keeney 1, Alivia Noel 5, Emma Lively 2)

MINFORD 55 (18-5)

Lexi Pendleton 0 1-2 1, Maggie Risner 3 1-2 7, Ava Cronin 0 0-0 0, Baylee Hammonds 2 0-0 4, Kynedi Davis 1 0-0 3, Lexi Conkel 4 0-0 11, Lindsee Williams 6 4-7 16, Marlee Pendleton 3 1-4 7, Lainey Howard 3 0-0 6; TOTALS 22 7-15 55; Three-point goals: 4 (Kynedi Davis 1, Lexi Conkel 3)