The Varnado Kittens held firm on their home court Friday as they defeated the Amite Lady Warriors, 72-59. The game was marked by good free throw and three-point shooting from both teams and included a number of lead changes before the Kittens pulled away in the second half.

The opening period saw a total of seven lead changes, and the score was tied at 16 going into the second. Amite’s J. Chyer hit three 3-pointers in the first quarter and two more in the second to help the Lady Warriors pull ahead 24-19. Varnado answered with a 7-2 run to tie it up again at 26 with four minutes left in the half. The hot shooting continued for both teams through to the halftime buzzer, and the Kittens went into the locker room down by two, 38-36.

In the third the Kittens started to put some distance between themselves and their opponent. Getting out quickly in transition allowed them to get layups and go to the line, where they shot well enough, going 22 of 38 for the night. Varnado’s Tarralyn Moses scored 13 of her 26 points at the line and was key in helping the Kittens gain a 51-46 advantage going into the fourth.

Varnado opened the fourth with consecutive putbacks by Tierra Green to make it 55-46, the team’s largest lead of the game. The Kittens never looked back and cruised to the 72-59 victory. Other scorers on the night for Varnado were Biance Holmes with 13, Nyliyah Mingo with 11, Tikandra Lewis with 10, Taylor Williams with 8, and Yienna Kemp with 1.