It was a game of runs for Eastern Greene on Tuesday night against Mitchell.

The Lady Thunderbirds fell behind by double figures in the opening quarter but steadily battled back to pick up their first high school basketball victory of the season, 41-37.

The Lady Bluejackets (1-3) started the game hot, racing to an 18-8 lead after the first quarter. But Eastern Greene settled down after that.

Coach Nathan Martindale’s squad only allowed three points in the second quarter and 16 points in the second half.

“Our defensive intensity turned up,” Martindale said of his team’s play over the final three quarters. “We started to battle on the glass.”

Though the Lady Thunderbirds still trailed 21-14 at halftime, they outscored Mitchell 27-16 over the final 16 minutes.

“We got a lot of great looks throughout the game. We got off to slow start shooting but finally got into an offensive rhythm in second half,” Martindale said.

Senior guards Maddie Sylvester (16 points) and Kaelyn Johnson (11 points) led Eastern Greene in scoring. Eight of Johnson’s points came in the third quarter.

Mitchell’s Raylee Thompson led her team with 15 points, with 11 coming in the second half.

Senior Grace Deckard had six points for the Lady Thunderbirds on Tuesday, junior Bre Hash had five, freshman Reagan Kelley had two, and freshman Ava Holtsclaw added a free throw.

Martindale has been teaching his players since the first day of practice to never stop competing.

“We have talked a lot about competing from start to finish regardless of scoreboard,” Martindale stressed. “We got down early but kept competing. It’s a great step in the right direction.”

Eastern Greene (1-3) will play at Loogootee (1-1) on Thursday night.

Eastern Greene will open Southwestern Indiana Athletic Conference play Nov. 19 at North Daviess and then play at home against North Central on Nov. 24.