BETHEL — A defensive turnaround in the second half Thursday helped Blanchester rally to beat Bethel-Tate 41-34 in SBAAC National Division girls basketball action.

The Wildcats were down 20-15 at halftime.

“We got lazy on defense in the second quarter,” BHS coach Pete Jackson said. “We have really been working on our man defense and I challenged our girls at halftime to get up and pressure the ball and take away the first pass and they responded well forcing turnovers and getting steals.”

The result was a 26-14 second half advantage and a win for Blanchester.

Blanchester is 3-4 overall and 3-2 in the conference.

Bethel-Tate is now 1-5 overall, 1-4 in the National.

In that second half outburst, Blanchester was able to work the ball inside and Ainsley Whitaker and Daelyn Staehling combined for 14 of the 26 points in the third and fourth quarter, Jackson said.

The Ladycats held the Tigers to 14 of 55 shooting, which included making just 3 of 16 from three-point range.

Whitaker led Blanchester with 15 points and eight rebounds. Staehling had three points and seven rebounds.

Emma Winemiller had 12 points, on 3 of 5 shooting beyond the three-point arc. Kaylee Coyle had 12 points, including a big three pointer with 1:30 left in the game to give BHS some breathing room. Macey Waldron had three points and four assists while Tori Potts had a point, six assists and three steals.