Mclouth ? When McLouth senior guard Leigh Anna Thompson’s temper got the best of her in the third quarter, coach Vicki Bechard was quick to sit her on the bench to calm down.

When she came back in the game with 2:11 remaining, she hit two jumpers to put the Bulldogs up 33-29, and in the process secured McLouth’s first victory of the season in its 13th try — a 33-31 victory over Seabury.

“She doesn’t really like this set of officials,” Bechard said. “When she thought they started picking on her, I told her she had to calm down before she could go back in.

“I asked our seniors if they wanted to make something of this season.”

Though the hope for a winning record went out the window long ago, Thompson and fellow senior guard Erica Meyer stepped up late in the game to give McLouth something to celebrate — finally.

No one in the gym probably thought the Bulldogs had a shot at the win when they were shut out in the second quarter, 6-0.

Though Seabury was not necessarily burning up the nets, the Seahawks held a 24-15 advantage after three quarters, and McLouth’s offense looked more than inept.

Bechard preached to her team on the bench before the fourth quarter that it still was a winnable game. And then something clicked.

Forward Amelia Coffin hit two quick jumpers, then Meyer sandwiched two free throws between a pair of three-pointers, which awoke the Bulldogs bench, and the crowd, from the doldrums.

Seabury Academy's Paul Bireta, left, looks to pass against McLouth's Kevin Stewart. The Bulldog boys defeated Seabury, 40-32, Thursday night in McLouth.

Meyer led McLouth with 14 points — nine of those in the fourth quarter — while Thompson added nine. Laura Frizell led Seabury with 11.

“A lot of times we give up in the fourth quarter, and just fall apart,” Thompson said. “We were talking in the locker room about how we didn’t really know how we felt because we hadn’t won in so long. It makes it a lot more fun to be out there playing.”

The fourth quarter instead was McLouth’s strong suit Thursday night, in which they scored 18 points — three points more than the Bulldogs scored in the other three quarters combined.

McLouth boys 40, Seabury 32

Immediately after the girls tasted victory for the first time in 2005, the McLouth boys team did just the same.

The Bulldogs took the reigns right from the tip, as the Seahawks struggled through the entire first half, going just 3-of-17 from the field and turning the ball over 12 times.

The Seahawks made a late charge, when junior guard Adam Davis hit his second three-pointer of the game to put Seabury up 27-25 with 5:53 remaining.

Neither team was spectacular offensively, but McLouth was when it had to be. Sophomore forward Trevor Keling scored nine of his game-high 13 points in the final five minutes, and the Bulldogs used the free-throw shooting of junior point guard Kevin Stewart to get the monkeys off their backs.

“We adjusted to the game tonight,” McLouth coach Chad Brown said. “You go an O-fer for the season, and every game there’s just more and more pressure. But when they went ahead, our composure was better.”