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Morristown West used a strong defensive effort and a 14-5 third quarter to down Dobyns-Bennett, 42-33, on Tuesday night at Mike Reed Gymnasium.

Notched in a low-scoring slug fest, an 14-4 run was just enough to fuel the Lady Trojans and snap a five-game District 1-4A losing streak.

Jhaniya Mitchell paced all scorers with 12, while Jocelin Murray and Kalyca Dinkins also finished in double digits with 11 and 12.

“I thought the defense was great,” West head coach Johnny Galyon said. “I really did. I really thought the defense was great. We took 23 away. I think she hit the first one she touched, and then the last one she touched. I felt like we were tight throughout the game, but, you know, we played hard. Just made some goofy plays. I thought Jhaniya’s presence in the second half really helped us. And I thought sis (Dinkins)hit a couple big threes that kind of opened the game. Overall, we’ll take it.”

The Lady Trojans took their foot off the gas after their third-quarter success, allowing the Lady Indians to creep back and trim it to five with a minute to go.

However, the drama would stop there and Dinkins put the game on ice by making all four of her attempts at the stripe in the final minute.

“We got a little complacent,” Galyon said. “Tried to play not to lose instead of just keep playing, we gotta get better at that.

“I think we had trouble with it because we’ve never been ahead that much this year. We got to practice it sometimes. We were in coast mode instead of attack mode a little bit. I think we got to continue to try to attack the basket without maybe scoring in those moments, but we didn’t utilize the whole half court. That’s what kind of hindered us their team.”

Kingsport opened with a 5-0 lead before Murray scored four anf Haven Simpson put in another to give West its first lead of the night. Mitchell then got involved late in the first and put in a lay and a free throw to make it an 11-0 run for West, who closed the quarter up 11-8.

Mitchell and Murray scored early in the second for a 15-10 lead, but the Lady Indians used an 8-2 run to take a brief one-point lead. Maddie Simpson was able to reclaim the lead for the Lady Trojans with a bucket off a steal in the closing seconds of the half.

Dinkins and Kinleigh Holt drilled back-to-back threes to open the third, and they were followed a minute later by another triple from Murray. Murray put in another basket and Dinkins closed the 14-4 run with another from deep to make it 33-22.

Jhaniya Mitchell scored five straight early in the final period, but D-B responded with a 8-0 run to close the gap at 38-33 entering the final minute. Dinkins halted the run and iced the game with her free throws.

The Lady Trojans finally get a practice day before closing the week with Region 1 powers Sevier County and East on Thursday and Friday.