The girls’ team salvaged what was otherwise a disappointing start to homecoming for Lexington High School on Thursday night.

After the boys’ team lost by 55 points to Sulphur in the opener, the girls fought their way to a 38-31 win in the nightcap.

Freshmen Blayke Givens and Sophie Carrington came up big for coach Jacobi Couch, whose team has been slowed by injuries in the team’s first month.

Givens scored a team-high 14 points while Carrington contributed nine points, including a pair of 3-point shots in a tightly contested fourth quarter.

“I think we came out pretty strong,” Couch told the Register. “We fought defensively. We held them to one point in the second quarter, so I thought that was really, really good. We showed some grit and toughness.”

Lexington led 20-10 at halftime, but Sulphur out scored the Bulldogs 8-3 in the third quarter to pull within five points.

Givens and Carrington each made 3-pointers to give the Bulldogs a 29-21 lead with five minutes left in the game. A Lexi Torres free throw made it 30-21 with 3:44 to go.

A lay up by Sulphur’s Brilee Peters cut the deficit to 30-23, but Carrington knocked down another 3-point shot to extend the Bulldogs’ lead to 33-23.

Senior Lexi Torres added eight points for Lexington (2-7), which forced 24 turnovers and held Sulphur standout Jayden Lee to four points.

“Our whole goal is to try to get people to turn the ball over,” Couch said. “Obviously, we’ve got to get better at finishing when we do get those turnovers.”

The Bulldogs returned to action the next day and dropped a 34-31 decision at Comanche.

Torres scored 10 of her team-high 13 points in the first half for the Bulldogs, who led 28-26 after three quarters, but scored only three points in the fourth

Boys

Lexington fell behind 11-0 against Sulphur and never recovered in a 77-22 loss. The Bulldogs trailed 20-5 after one quarter and 47-9 at halftime.

“They’re really physical, got a bunch of big kids,” Lexington coach Derek Clark said. “They kind of got after us early. You’ve got to try to find positives where there are positives.”

Lexington scored the first four points of the third quarter, which turned out to be the most competitive of the game. Sulphur out scored the Bulldogs 17-9.

“I was proud of them because they didn’t quit,” Clark said.

Sophomore guard Cash Dierking (9) and junior guard James McMillian (7) combined for 16 of Lexington’s 22 points.

“Hopefully it teaches us, shows us where we need to get to, physically,” Clark said. “Shows us that we need to get tougher and be more physical to get to where their level is. Kind of shows you where you need to get to be successful.”

Sulphur’s Bridge Barrett, a member of the school’s Class 3A state runner-up football team, led all scorers with 30 points.

Lexington played better the next day at Comanche but lost 34-31 to drop to 1-8 on the season.