PENDLETON — The return of senior leading scorer Kylie Davis to the Pendleton Heights lineup paid dividends in the Arabians’ second-half comeback and 67-54 quarterfinal win Monday against Alexandria in the Madison County Girls Basketball Tournament at Pendleton Heights High School.

It probably isn’t the way everyone expected.

Davis, who came in averaging 19.2 points per game, didn’t score in the first half. She sat much of the first 16 minutes on the bench with two fouls.

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She finished with just six points, as three double-figures-scoring teammates led the way after the team trailed 34-30 at the break to the Tigers, a top-notch Class 2A team that dropped to 13-2 with the loss.

After Alexandria had scored 17 points in each of the first two quarters, the Arabians defense helped hold the Tigers to just 20 second-half points.

Alexandria leading scorer Reece VanBlair had 19 points, but only four — all on free throws — came in the second half.

Davis’s return was felt, but mostly on the defensive end.

“We talked about, defensively, picking it up and trying not to let them get around us, doing a better job on the ball,” head coach Chad Cook said of halftime adjustments. “I thought we came out and answered that well. Having Kylie Davis on the floor not only helps us on offense, but it helps us on the defensive end as well. She had two fouls in the first half, and we didn’t want to risk it.

“Her being out on the floor in the second half helps.”

On the offensive side of the things, the Arabians proved what many may not have known — they’re much more than the senior standout Davis.

Junior Abi Rosenkrans finished with a game-high 21 points, including 13 in the second half. Junior Hailee Brunnemer had 15 points. Both players had three 3-pointers.

Kylea Lloyd had 10 points and nine rebounds. Whitney Warfel had eight points and nine boards.

Off the bench, the Arabians’ only other senior, Gracie Conkling, who is returning from an injury, had six points.

“When we do how we’re supposed to do in all of the areas, we’re tough to beat,” Cook said, praising his supporting cast that rose to leading act on Monday.

The Arabians improved to 8-5 overall with the win and will take on Class 2A No. 2 Frankton in a semifinal matchup today (Thursday) at 5:30 p.m. at Pendleton Heights.

The Arabians lost to Frankton on a last-second shot, 58-56, at Frankton on Dec. 12.

Thursday’s winners will move on to Saturday night’s championship game.

The top half of the bracket has three of the tournament’s strongest teams with Alexandria, Pendleton Heights and Frankton.

It was a quick turnaround for the Arabians, who lost to Mt. Vernon on Saturday in a game in which they could have clinched a share of the Hoosier Heritage Conference title.

“We knew coming into (the Alexandria game) we were going to be fighting a little bit of an emotional letdown after falling short Saturday in a game where we could possibly win the conference,” Cook said. “We knew we’d be a little short with no practice in between. I thought we responded well after that first half and came out a little hungrier and paid better attention to detail on defense, and on offense we created some things, too.”

Down 41-38 with five minutes left in the third quarter, Pendleton Heights went on a 7-0 run to take the lead for good.

Davis started it with a pair of free throws. Lloyd scored on a nice pass from Warfel, the second Warfel-to-Lloyd connection of the quarter, and Rosenkrans hit the third of her three treys to put the Arabians ahead 45-41. She had nine points in the quarter, including a coast-to-coast rebound and layup to put her club up eight, 51-43, with 1:05 left in the period.