ROSEPINE—Pressure by the Pickering Lady Red Devils (2-0) for the first three quarters was enough to enable them to withstand a DeRidder Lady Dragons (1-1) fourth quarter comeback Thursday afternoon in the Rosepine Tournament. Pickering defeated DeRidder 52-44.

“I thought we handled pressure pretty well the first three quarters,” Pickering head coach Vickie Sketoe said.

“We didn’t come to play,” DeRidder head coach Tammie Gibson said. “We played hard the last five minutes.”

Gibson said DeRidder’s Tiffany Jackson injured her knee during the game and others had to step up their games. The status of Jackson was not yet determined after the game.

Thanks to eight first quarter points by Krystal Sowells of DeRidder on three field goals and two free throws, the Lady Dragons led 12-7 at the end of the first quarter.

However, Pickering stepped things up in the second quarter and outscored DeRidder 17-5 to take a 24-17 halftime lead.

Pickering ended the half on a 15-2 run.

DeRidder held a 15-9 lead with 6:50 to play in the first half, but Pickering scored the next six points unanswered to tie things up at 15-15 with 5:42 to play in the second quarter.

During Pickering’s run, Katy Haymon made a layup, Natashia Webber had a steal and fast break for two points and Drucilla Rudolph scored a 2-pointer on an offensive rebound.

Five Lady Red Devils scored during the second quarter led by Rudolph with six points. Aaliyah Sheppard scored two points in the quarter for Pickering and Sami Thomas scored four.

After Pickering tied things up at 15-15, Felisha Walters scored a 2-pointer for DeRidder with 5:15 to play in the first half to give the Lady Dragons a 17-15 lead.

Then Pickering scored the next nine points unanswered to give the Lady Red Devils their 24-17 halftime lead.

Four of those Pickering points were on free throws — two courtesy of Thomas and the other two courtesy of Rudolph.

Pickering outscored DeRidder 16-12 in the third quarter to take a 40-29 lead going into the fourth quarter.

The Lady Red Devils third quarter points were all on 2-point field goals and three of them were by Rudolph.

Rayna Childs helped keep DeRidder in the game during the third quarter. She scored eight of the team’s 12 points in the quarter on three field goals and two free throws.

The comeback began late in the fourth quarter for DeRidder.

The Lady Dragons outscored Pickering 15-12 in the fourth quarter and ended the game on an 8-4 run.

Sketoe was pleased Pickering played well enough earlier in the game to win, but gave DeRidder credit for coming back.

“In the last quarter all I can say is DeRidder did a great job,” Sketoe said.

When DeRidder went on its run, Childs scored four of the points on two layups for DeRidder, Sowells connected on two free throws and Jeese May scored two of the points off of a Christina Walters backcourt steal.

“Christina Walters off of the bench played well on defense,” Gibson said.

May also made three free throws for DeRidder after being fouled on a 3-point field goal attempt.

Rudolph managed to hold things down for Pickering with four fourth quarter free throws and Webber scored four fourth quarter points for the Lady Red Devils.

Gibson also said seniors stepped up, but as a team, the Lady Dragons are young and she said they are still learning.

For the Lady Dragons, Childs scored 14 points, Sowells scored 12 points and collected 15 rebounds, Cekret Davis scored eight points, May scored five points, Walters scored three points and Jackson contributed two points.

For the Lady Red Devils, Rudolph scored 19 points and collected eight rebounds, Webber scored 10 points with four steals and four assists, Thomas scored eight points, Brinkley and Sheppard each scored six points and Haymon scored three points with four rebounds and four steals.

DeRidder is back in action against the Rosepine Lady Eagles at 4 p.m. Saturday in the Rosepine Tournament and Pickering faces the Merryville Lady Panthers at 1 p.m. Saturday in the Rosepine Tournament.