Goshen’s Lady Eagles are on a roll. After opening the season 1-2, the Lady Eagles have put together a 3-1 record with all three wins being area victories. That third area victory was a 40-27 win over Highland Home in Goshen Thursday night.

“It was a win, we are 3-0 in the area and I am proud of that,” GHS head coach Lindsey Hornbuckle said. “We have some things to work on before we play Zion Chapel, but I am just so proud they got this win.”

The game was nip and tuck in the first half.

“It was a win, but I have to honestly say that in the first half even though we were winning by one, Highland Home was beating us on the floor,” Hornbuckle said. “We were getting outhustled and outplayed.”

But Hornbuckle’s speech at halftime must have worked because the Lady Eagles outscored the Lady Flying Squadron 20-8 in the second half.

“I told them at halftime that their priorities were not right tonight,” Hornbuckle said. “They walked into this game thinking, ‘We beat Highland Home the first time by 30-something points and we will come in here and do it again.’ And we almost got beat.”

Goshen was down two girls in the first half because of disciplinary reasons, but when they came back in it was good for the team.

“Niyoka and Shelby Jo were a breath of fresh air in the second half,” Hornbuckle said. Niyoka stepped up and showed she really wanted to be there and that is what it boiled down to, who wanted it more.”

Goshen led 20-19 at the half and Highland Home scored the first points of the second half, but then the Lady Eagles went on an 11-2 run to end the third quarter. Heading into the final quarter, Goshen held a 31-23 lead.

“We had that big run and they called a timeout and my speech was to basically not lose the momentum,” Hornbuckle said. “We had it in our favor and we held onto it.

The Lady Eagles kept the pressure on in the fourth and walked away with the dominating win.

Ivia Pollard led the Lady Eagles with 11 points.

Diamond Cottrell chipped in 10 points. Destinie Barnes had seven points.

Jasmine Jones had six points and Niyoka Slater and DeAnna McLeod had three points apiece.

Goshen has a chance to host the area tournament if the team can repeat its first half performance in area play.

The Lady Eagles have two games left against Zion Chapel and a rematch with Reeltown.

If the Lady Eagles get through the two games against Zion, the Reeltown game will decide who hosts the area tournament.

Goshen heads to Zion Chapel Saturday beginning at 4 p.m. and hosts the Rebels Monday night beginning at 4:30 p.m.