Luverne dominated on the boards over Pleasant Home as the Lady Tigers won 39-33 on Monday night at Straughn’s Thanksgiving Tournament.

LHS led throughout the game, even when it got close in he latter part of the second half. The Lady Tigers led 8-4 after the first period, and 18-12 at halftime.

PHS coach Jerry Davis said turnovers, along with Luverne’s rebounding did the girls in.

“You’ve got to understand that you’ve got to throw it to our people,” Davis said. “The biggest thing more than anything else is that they destroyed us on the boards.

“We’re going to go back and work on it,” he said.

The Lady Eagles got a surge of adrenaline to start the second half when junior point guard Jade Self caught a steal and converted on the other end to cut the lead to 18-14.

Luverne quickly answered with a steal to widen the gap a little later to go ahead 22-14 with 5:12 left in the third.

PHS senior center Allison O’Neal got a jumper to go and the Lady Eagles were still in it at 22-16 with more than two minutes to go.

Senior forward Brianna Dozier made a pair of free shots, and senior guard Ashley Williamson got a jumper to help the Lady Eagles end the third period on a 4-0 run, cutting Luverne’s lead down to 24-20.

Williamson got the ball rolling with a pair of free shots to start the fourth period.

Right after, Luverne senior shooting guard Shakia Brantley, who led the Lady Tigers with 17 points, capitalized on a steal to increase her team’s lead to 26-22.

PHS came back to tie it up on a Williamson drive to the lane, and a Self steal and lay up to put the game at 26-all.

However, Brantley and Alexus Redmon got consecutive jumpers for LHS to put the Lady Tigers at 30-26.

Dozier added two free throws, LHS got another conversion on a steal and Williamson got a key 3-pointer after a timeout to cut the lead to 33-31 with 3:24 left.

Later on, Williamson made two free throws and Pleasant Home trailed 35-33 with 2:07 left in the game.

After a couple LHS timeouts, the Lady Eagles got the ball back after a trap play. But, a turnover gave LHS the ball, which was in the hands of Brantley, who got the easy lay up to make it 37-33.

Brantley recorded the final two points for her team on free throws.

Williamson led PHS with 18 points. Dozier chipped in five points.

Nyjah Thomas drained 12 points for LHS.

Pleasant Home pays Red Level today at 4:30 p.m. in the loser’s bracket, while Luverne tips off against Straughn tonight at 7:30.