LIVINGSTON MANOR — The Lady Comets 3-10 (0-2) visited the Lady Wildcats 1-13 (0-1) on Thursday evening for Livingston Manor’s Pink Out cancer awareness contest. After a deadlocked first quarter, Fallsburg was able to take control of the game to win 36-24.

Fallsburg’s Maya Ballard netted a three pointer on the opening possession, which stood as the only points over the first few minutes of the game before Livingston Manor evened the score with free throws.

The two teams exchanged a few late buckets in the quarter, but Fallsburg ended with a 7-6 lead.

In the second quarter, the Lady Comets started to find their groove, scoring nearly two points for each of Livingston Manor’s and extending their lead to seven by halftime, leading 20-13.

“The girls started off hot after three straight games this week,” Fallsburg Coach Mike Ballard said. “I told my team that we can’t be flat and we need to start right out of the gate.”

The hot start swung the momentum in favor of Fallsburg, who continued to push the pace in the second half. Using their press, they were able to force turnovers and accrue points, doubling Livingston Manor’s score in the third and taking a 30-18 lead into the final quarter.

Livingston Manor, led by Sarah Evans with 11 points, had plenty of attempts from the free throw line, but were only able to convert 10 of the 22 shots.

Fallsburg was led by Jordan Batista and Emily Perna with 12 and 10 points respectively.

“This season has been a rebuilding year,” Livingston Manor coach Maggi Fitzpatrick said. “It’s the first year that the basketball program has been merged and the girls are getting used to playing with new teammates, in a new system and in a new environment. They have made tremendous progress and I’m excited to see how they can continue to build off of it moving forward.”

“We had players that contributed and stepped up when necessary,” Coach Ballard said. “We definitely needed this win after a close game with Liberty and Rondout.”