WEIRTON – The Madonna girls’ basketball team took the lead in the first quarter against Bridgeport, and the Blue Dons held it for the rest of the way.

Madonna led by four at the end of the first quarter, led by as many as 10 points in the second half before coming away with a 47-40 victory on Joanna Bernabei-McNamee Court inside the Bill Barrett Gymnasium.

“We just couldn’t be consistent enough throughout the game,” Madonna (4-7) head coach Cory Wingett said. “The girls did a good job defensively. I am proud of their defensive effort. We just were not consistent enough on offense to pull away.

“Hats off to Bridgeport. They were able to cause of some confusion. They were a challenge. No. 14 was on fire. She hit everything she put up. She shot the ball really well. I have to give her credit. She caused us some problems.”

The girls in white took a 9-4 lead in the first before taking a 13-9 lead into the second. A 3-pointer gave the hosts a 16-11 advantage, and later on, the girls from Hancock County extended their advantage to 20-14 before the girls from Belmont County closed the gap to 25-22 at halftime.

The victors scored a couple quick baskets to go up by seven less than 30 seconds into the third, and two baskets nine seconds apart enabled Madonna to build a 35-25 advantage with 4:31 remaining to be played in the quarter. The girls in blue pulled to within 36-29 entering the fourth.

Madonna’s second 3-pointer of the night gave the Blue Dons a 41-31 lead in the fourth, however, the 3s by Hanna Brewer pulled the visitors to within 43-40 with 4:30 still showing on the scoreboard, however, the Bulldogs did not score again as the Blue Dons delivered the final four points of the game to secure the victory.

“We had a hard time finishing,” Wingett said. “We tried to set some ball screens, and they did a good job of playing those ball screens. There are some strategies we can do to do a better job with that. I don’t want to take anything away from our defensive effort.”

Christany Bartley tallied a team-high 11 points to lead the way offensively for Madonna, while Genna Birkhimer recorded 10 and Addy Welsh added eight.

Hanna Brewer contributed a game-high 25 points to lead the way for Bridgeport, while Rylee McElroy tallied six.

“We played three great quarters Saturday and one bad quarter,” Wingett said. “I am proud of the girls. It is good that we were able to pull out this win. We needed this win mentally. It is always good to get a win.”

Bridgeport is slated to play Paden City tonight at home.

Madonna is scheduled to play Hundred at 1 p.m. Saturday on the road.

“They’re calling for more weather Saturday,” Wingett said. “We have had some bad weather in our neck of the woods.”

Madonna 47, Bridgeport 40

Bridgeport 9 13 7 11 – 40

Madonna 13 12 11 11 – 47

BRIDGEPORT: Jackson 0 0-0 0, McElroy 2 2-6 6, Chambers 1 0-0 2, Brewer 9 0-2 25, Baxter 0 0-0 0, Snodgrass 1 1-2 3, Gonzalez 2 0-0 4. TOTALS: 15 3-10 40.

MADONNA (4-7): Bartley 5 0-0 11, R. Birkhimer 2 0-0 5, Owens 2 2-6 6, Welsh 4 0-0 8, G. Birkhimer 4 2-4 10, Littleton 1 1-2 3, Ryan 1 0-0 2, Miller 1 0-2 2, Brady 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 20 5-14 47.

3-POINTERS: Bridgeport 7 (Brewer 7); Madonna 2 (Bartley, R. Birkhimer)