Blue Ridge Girls Basketball Goes above .500 with Come-from-Behind Home Win over Heyworth

Updated December 6 at 3:18 p.m.

FARMER CITY, Ill. -- The Lady Knights overcame a 12-point halftime deficit to beat Heart of Illinois Conference opponent Heyworth 54-49.

After falling behind 14-6 at the end of the first quarter and 28-16 at halftime, Blue Ridge outscored the Lady Hornets 17-10 to cut the deficit to five points at the end of the third quarter.

Then the Lady Knights scored 21 points in the fourth quarter, while yielding 11 to Heyworth, en route to the comeback win.

Melinda Wilson was the game's scoring leader, scoring 16 points on 6-of-17 shooting. She earned a double-double with 10 rebounds, including five on the offensive end.

Wilson also stole the ball five times and recorded five assists.

As a team, Blue Ridge made 43% (21-of-49) of its field goals while shooting 12-of-19 from the free-throw line. The Lady Knights collected 35 rebounds, including 16 offensive ones.

Jacquelyn O'Neal scored 14 points on 5-of-10 field-goal shooting. She also grabbed nine rebounds (five offensive), blocked four shots and finished the game with five steals and five assists.

Blue Ridge finished the game with a total of 17 steals and 18 assists.

Jamison Brandt contributed to the Lady Knights' scoring effort with eight points. Korrie Gilbert and Gabby Pearl each added six points while Bailey Clancy had four points.

Pearl also recorded six rebounds and three blocks. Gilbert finished the game with four steals and four assists.

With the win, Blue Ridge improves to 5-4 (2-1 HOIC), one victory away from matching last year's win total. Last year, the Lady Knights went 6-21.

They will look for that sixth win on Thursday, when Blue Ridge hosts another conference showdown against Fisher.

Blue Ridge 54, Heyworth 49

Blue Ridge (54)

Jacquelyn O'Neal 5-10 4-6 14, Korrie Gilbert 3-7 0-0 6, Melinda Wilson 6-17 4-8 16, Bailey Clancy 1-2 2-2 4, Gabby Pearl 2-3 2-3 6, Jamison Brandt 4-10 0-0 8. Totals 21-49 12-19 54

Heyworth    14    14    10    11    -- 49

Blue Ridge    6    10    17    21    -- 54

Rebounds -- Blue Ridge 35 (Wilson 10, O'Neal 9, Pearl 6, Brandt 4, Gilbert 3, Clancy 3). Assists -- Blue Ridge 18 (O'Neal 5, Wilson 5, Gilbert 4, Pearl 2, Brandt 2). Steals -- Blue Ridge 17 (O'Neal 5, Wilson 5, Gilbert 4, Pearl 2, Brandt 1). Blocks -- Blue Ridge 7 (O'Neal 4, Pearl 3).