The Pleasant Home Lady Eagles lead for most of the contest, but the Linden Lady Patriots battled back in the final minutes to defeat Pleasant Home 55-51 in Thursday’s opening round of the Class 1A South Regional tournament in Dothan.

Pleasant Home got on the board first with a couple of quick baskets from sophomore phenom River Baldwin.

The Lady Patriots tied the game up before Baldwin and Taylor Catoe dropped in buckets to help give the Lady Eagles a 15-14 lead at the end of the first period.

Baldwin continued to assert her dominance over teh Lady Patriots in the second period to give the Lady Eagles a 29-23 lead at halftime.

In the third period, the Lady Eagles remained in control of the game, and big baskets from Abby Walker, Baldwin and Catoe had the Lady Eagles on top 43-35 heading into the final frame.

The Lady Patriots’ defensive pressure turned to full blast in the final frame and began creating turnovers and turning them into points.

After the Lady Eagles increased the lead to 46-35, the Lady Patriots went on big run.

With three minutes left in the game, the Lady Patriots tied the game and then took a 53-48 lead.

Baldwin dropped in a 3-pointer with around 20 seconds left on the clock, but the Lady Patriots hit their free throws to seal the comeback win.

Baldwin led the Lady Eagles with 35 points and 18 rebounds.

“It was better than the last time we played them,” Pleasant Home head coach Jerry Davis said. “We just didn’t protect the ball there at the end of the game, and that is a bad time to not deal with that. They put the pressure on us at the end, and that’s what they have been able to do to teams all season. I’m very proud of the way our girls played tonight. It was a great year and this is a fun group to be around. We only lose two seniors and the rest of the team will be back next year.”