MONTGOMERY CITY, Mo. - Fulton senior guard Dionne Vaughn tallied a game-high 19 points as the sixth-seeded Lady Hornets outlasted No. 7 Silex 40-37 on Wednesday night in the consolation semifinals of the Montgomery County Tournament.
The victory was the first of the season for Fulton, which improved to 1-2.
"This was huge - I don't think it speaks enough volume about how big that was," Lady Hornets head coach TJ Quick said. "We know that no game is going to be easy and we're going to have to fight for it."
Fulton was down 8-6 after one quarter, but took an 18-16 edge into halftime and stretched its advantage to 30-23 entering the fourth quarter. The Lady Hornets were outscored 14-10 over the final 8 minutes, but held on for the win.
Vaughn also recorded eight assists, five steals and two blocked shots to pace Fulton. Sophomore guard Mattie Arnold supplied 13 points and junior guard Shawnie Hempfield had four steals.
"We started off sluggish and Silex kind of went on a run, and we let it happen," Quick said. "I called a timeout and we had a little heart-to-heart, and that was it.
"In the second quarter we looked to attack on offense and made something happen."
Elly Boothe topped Silex with 14 points.
The Lady Hornets will play No. 5 seed Montgomery County for fifth place at 5:30 p.m. Friday in the high school gym.