Pushed to the limit, the Bowling Green girls’ basketball team found a way to push through – outlasting Greenwood 76-69 in overtime Tuesday at Greenwood High School.

Bowling Green (4-1 overall, 1-0 District 14) trailed for most of the second half, but rallied late to get to overtime before pulling away for the victory.

“Kudos to Greenwood,” Bowling Green coach Calvin Head said. “He had his kids well prepared and they played hard. The girls found a way to muster up a lot of energy and dig deep and get it to overtime. Kudos to their toughness.

“A lot of kids in there, that was the first time they have been in a (District 14) battle. For them to keep it together … I’m very proud of them.”

Greenwood (3-3, 0-1) was looking for its first win against the Lady Purples since 2007. The Lady Gators were in position late before foul trouble tested Greenwood’s depth and allowed Bowling Green to pull away.

The first half was back and forth as both teams had lengthy runs countered by the opponents.

Bowling Green scored the first five points, but Greenwood answered with seven straight to take a 7-5 advantage.

Keely Morrow’s shot in the paint sparked a 7-0 run that pushed the Lady Purples back in front. Greenwood chipped away, taking a 14-13 lead on a 3-pointer by Riley Hartis in the first minute of the second period.

The Lady Gators’ lead grew to as much as 26-16 before Morrow scored the final four points of the half to trim the deficit to six.

Megan Une’s bucket to open the second half made the score 28-20, but Bowling Green scored eight straight to tie the score.

It was the first of three straight 8-0 runs, with the teams tied 36-36 heading into the fourth quarter. The Lady Gators scored six straight to open the fourth to regain the advantage, but the Lady Purples stayed close before Morrow’s steal and layup tied the score at 52 with 3:18 left in regulation.

Bowling Green eventually took the lead and stretched it to 63-60 before Jacqueline Jackson hit three free throws to tie the score with 12.9 seconds remaining.

Morrow had a chance at the win, but her shot rimmed off to send the game to overtime.

Taylor Ragland’s shot in the paint to start overtime gave the Lady Purples the lead for good. Bowling Green steadily pulled away, taking advantage of Hartis fouling out in the final minute of regulation with sophomore forward Shalyn Whitson scoring to spark an 8-0 run that gave BG a commanding 75-65 advantage with one minute left.

“(Whitson) made some big plays down in the paint,” Greenwood coach Zach Simpson said. “We just have to do a better job defending. I’m so proud of the effort tonight. In the locker room after the game we talked about the positives we could take away from the game and there were a lot of them. I saw some things out of some girls tonight that I haven’t seen all season.”

Morrow led Bowling Green with 31 points and 15 rebounds. Ragland added 17 points and nine rebounds, while Whitson finished with 16 points and seven boards.

“I don’t think we came in ready to play, but we found a way to win,” Morrow said. “We came together as a team and rallied up. They were giving us everything they’ve got and we gave them everything we’ve got.”

Jacqueline Jackson led Greenwood with 31 points and 10 rebounds, while Hartis added 13 points.

Bowling Green will play at John Hardin at 7 p.m. CST Friday, while Greenwood plays at South Warren at 6 p.m. Friday.

BGHS 13 7 16 27 13 – 76

GHS 11 15 10 27 6 – 69

BG – Morrow 31, Ragland 17, Whitson 16, K. Gray 7, Tardy 2, Owens 2, M. Gray 1.

GHS – Jackson 31, Hartis 13, Miller 8, Une 7, Gordon 6, Turley 4.

Bowling Green 86, Greenwood 73, Boys

Four Purples scored in double figures as Bowling Green built a 17-point halftime advantage and held off a late charge from the Gators.

“Anytime you can win a road game in (District 14), we will take that,” Bowling Green coach Derrick Clubb said. “Tonight was a good win against a good basketball team.”

Bowling Green (4-2 overall, 1-0 District 14) never trailed, scoring the first seven points and building a 24-11 advantage after the first quarter. The lead grew to 45-28 by halftime, with the Purples leading by as many as 25 points in the second half.

Greenwood (3-2, 0-1) got as close as 12, but couldn’t get any closer.

Ziyon Kenner, playing his third game of the season after playing football, was a spark off the bench for Bowling Green with 19 points.

“We’ve been pushing it in practice every day and games like this I really need to get in shape for,” Kenner said. “It’s been getting there. Football and basketball is pretty different, so I am getting back to it.”

Jarius Key finished with 19 points and 12 rebounds for the Purples. Eli Thurman added 17 points, while Davion Dice finished with 13 points and nine rebounds.

Luke Littrell finished with a school-record 42 points for the Gators, eclipsing the 40-point mark previously held by Daymeon Fishback, while Jack Roberts added 17 points.

“We have a lot of guys without experience out there and in that first half we drifted around and were floating,” Greenwood coach Bob Pels said. “You really can’t blame them because for a lot of the guys it was the first big game they have played.

“My two kids that have the experience, Luke and Jack, just played their shorts off tonight. We are trying to find out which kids can play in big ballgames. It’s a long season. We are OK.”

Bowling Green will play at Hopkinsville at 7 p.m. Friday, while Greenwood plays at South Warren at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

BGHS 24 21 16 25 – 86

GHS 11 17 16 29 – 73

BG – Kenner 19, Key 19, Thurman 17, Dice 13, Buser 6, Dennis 6, Gray 2, Mason 2, Dingle 2.

GHS – Littrell 42, Roberts 17, Williams 5, Johnson 4, Nash 2, Carroll 2.{&end}