The Atlantic Trojans girls basketball team used an electric third quarter to spark a big comeback to win against the Southeast Valley Jaguars in the first round of regional play Saturday night 49-38.

The game started slow for Atlantic as Southeast Valley utilized Breck Mills perimeter shooting scoring eight points for her team but also drawing multiple fouls in the process. The Trojans had Paytn Harter respond with 6 points of her own to make it 17-7 with Southeast Valley leading after the first.

In the second quarter Atlantic continued to struggle with turnovers and Ryleigh Carlson suddenly found herself unable to miss from behind the arc. Draining three triples in the second and giving the Jaguars all of the momentum leading into halftime up 28-21.

When eight minutes were put on the clock in the third quarter, a different Atlantic team came out to play. The miscues with turnovers diminished and Southeast Valley suddenly found themselves unable to score. Makenna Schroeder and Paytn Harter had multiple baskets each. Continuing to swing momentum away from the Jaguars and ultimately winning the third quarter 17-6, putting Atlantic up 38-34.

When the fourth quarter arrived Southeast Valley Head Coach Kevin Mills had a tough decision to make. His leading scorer Breck Mills had four fouls and had the possibility of fouling out if he kept her in the game. Coach Mills decided to risk keeping her in, in hopes of her offensive production helping the Jaguars take the lead back. With 6:15 left to go in the fourth Mills fouled out and Southeast Valley wasn’t able to recover without her. The Jaguars continued to miss baskets and Atlantic turned up the pressure throughout the reminder of the fourth and walked away with a solid score of 49-38.

Going into halftime down by 7, Head Coach Dan Vargason reminded his team to be patient and to execute in the second half.

Up next for Atlantic they travel to Cherokee Washington to take on the Braves February 14th. To keep the game close Coach Vargason reiterated that if Atlantic fixes their mistakes against Southeast Valley, they can play tough.

Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m.