Bre Griffin led Goshen with 16 points and Shamiya Griffin added eight points as the Lady Eagles defeated New Brockton 38-30 in a close battle Tuesday night.

The Lady Eagles got off to a blazing start to Tuesday’s matchup, but found themselves sweating out the final quarter of the game.

“We played really sloppy,” Goshen head coach Ashley De Marr said. “Games like this, we have to be able to put teams away. It was a sloppy half of second-half basketball.”

In the first quarter, it was the defense that shone through for Goshen.

The Lady Eagles raced out to a 16-2 lead behind six points from Shamiya. Goshen opened up the game with a full-court press that confused the New Brockton offense. The Gamecocks committed several turnovers that were turned into points the other way for Goshen.

“Defense wins games, as we know,” De Marr said. “There were a couple little spots that the second unit was shaky in.”

The second quarter was more of the same for New Brockton. But with Goshen going cold from the field themselves, the Gamecocks managed to outscore the Lady Eagles 10-8 in the second quarter, narrowing the lead to 26-12 just before half.

Brandi Donaldson was a force down low for the Gamecocks, who outrebounded Goshen by a wide margin Tuesday night.

In the third quarter, Bre, who was mostly quiet in the first half, provided an offensive spark for Goshen as they extended their lead to a comfortable margin.

Bre scored eight of the Lady Eagles’ 12 points in the third quarter, including a layup as time expired to help Goshen to a 38-18 lead going into the fourth quarter.

Going into the fourth quarter, the game appeared to be all but over for New Brockton.

But the Gamecocks fought back behind Donaldson, who finished with a team-high 12 points on the night.

New Brockton was able to grind the Goshen lead down to 10, and eventually 8, but turnovers continued to mar the Gamecocks’ comeback attempts as Goshen’s full-court press continued to force turnovers.

It wasn’t an easy final quarter for Goshen, who was held scoreless in the fourth.

Though Goshen was outscored 18-12 in the second half, the Lady Eagles’ early lead proved enough to secure the victory.

“New Brockton fought, as you can see it’s only an eight-point win,” De Marr said. “I think they (the team) have to realize that a team that is a little more skillful can come back and get the lead just like that…We got two days to practice. We’ve got Elba on Friday. It’s a huge game.”