MONTGOMERY CITY - The sixth-seeded Lady Hornets could not overcome early foul trouble in falling to the No. 2 Lady Wildcats in the semifinals of the Montgomery County Invitational on Wednesday night.
Fulton (1-2) was down 22-11 after one quarter and trailed 30-15 at halftime, but outscored Montgomery County 16-6 in the third quarter to close within 36-31. The Lady Wildcats, though, advanced to the championship by outscoring Fulton 15-9 over the final 8 minutes.
Junior guard Kayanna Gaines directed the Lady Hornets with 16 points. Sophomore guard Kiah Pittman scored nine points and junior guard Carly Fisher contributed six.
"We made some adjustments at the half and came out in the third (quarter) back at full strength," Fulton head coach Dillan Brunk said. "I was happy with how the girls kept battling and were determined to get back into the game.
"It was definitely a step forward for us."
Taylor Flake paced Montgomery County with a game-high 18 points and Sam Queathem added 11.
The Lady Hornets square off against No. 5 seed New Haven for third place at 3 p.m. Saturday. New Haven bowed to top-seeded Hermann 52-38 in Wednesday night's other semifinal.