A comeback win in the final rivalry game of the season saw Leggett take a 41-34 victory at home over Goodrich in Dudley Dickens Gym Tuesday.
Goodrich began the game on a 10-0 run. Leggett finally got on the board with a 3-pointer from Na’llah Jordan midway through the first. The Lady Pirates performed better on the offensive end in the final four minutes, trailing by just one at the end of the first period.
Bianca Perkins scored 11 of Leggett’s 16 points in the first half to keep them competitive, down 21-16 at the break.
That would be important by the fourth quarter, when the Goodrich offense went cold and Leggett began its comeback. The Lady Pirates took the lead with a little more than two minutes remaining. Turnovers would be the Lady Hornets' undoing, as Leggett came up with several steals. Goodrich was held to just one bucket, and the home team used a 13-2 period for the win.
“We got them off steals,” Barlow said of points in the fourth. “We weren't doing well on our press and they were breaking it, so I pulled them off of it. They came back out and said, ‘Coach, can we go back to pressing in the fourth quarter?’”
Perkins led with 19 points and Tamera Henderson 13. Goodrich’s Aaliyah Wright had 12 and Bra’Niyah Wyatt had nine.
Leggett finishes in third place of District 28-1A. They will travel to Lufkin to play Zavalla Tuesday at 6 p.m. It is the first trip to the playoffs for Leggett since 2018.
“We did really good until the last four minutes of the game,” Goodrich coach Pinellafie Johnson said. “The girls did an outstanding job on all the things I was asking them to do. It was those last four minutes when nobody wanted the ball and we were just going to throw the ball away. We had more turnovers in those last four minutes than we did in the entire game. You just can't win like that. We weren't getting back. (Leggett) started making their layups and they made their free throws. We missed our free throws and they were 13-2 in that last quarter.
Goodrich will also make the postseason. They have a date with the state’s No. 3 team in Broaddus Monday at Corrigan-Camden High with a tip time of 6 p.m.
