Down by eight points just eight minutes in, the Blair Oaks Lady Falcons weren't concerned.
"It wasn't because that we weren't playing hard and working," Blair Oaks coach Darren Heckman said. "They made some plays and we didn't, so I felt good that we can get back in it."
The Lady Falcons got hot from downtown and led at halftime, but Hermann dominated on the glass late to pull out a 41-39 win Saturday in the River Region Credit Union Shootout at Fleming Fieldhouse.
"Really proud of how we played today overall," Heckman said.
A Megan Schneider steal and Gracie Winkelmann layup resulted in a 10-3 lead a little more than halfway through the first quarter.
Winkelmann, the game's MVP after tallying 14 points and six rebounds, added two more layups in the final minute of the first quarter for a 14-6 Lady Bearcat lead.
"We're not always going to maybe make the right decision or make the shots, but today what we did is we competed for four quarters and really that's where we wanted to start," Heckman said. "We want to compete for four quarters regardless."
The margin was down to three after a Lauren Strange 3-pointer midway through the second quarter.
Mallorie Fick tied it at 17 with a 3 from the right wing at the 3:07 mark and hit another one from the wing at the buzzer for a 22-17 lead.
Fick scored 10 of her game-high 22 points in the second quarter.
Hermann took control from the first possession of the second half as Winkelmann dropped in a 3 from the top of the key 11 seconds into the third quarter to start an 11-2 run that resulted in a 28-24 lead at the 3:58 mark.
Hermann got the lead to five before Olivia Boessen made a jumper to make it 31-28 at the end of three quarters.
Boessen and Kadence Kliegel got extended minutes with starter Alyssa Hargus unavailable.
"I thought they responded well and did some good things," Heckman said.
Hermann led by as many as seven at 35-28 with 6:23 remaining before Blair Oaks picked up the pace to score seven consecutive points.
After Bailey Rissmiller grabbed a rebound, she quickly got the ball up to Fick for a layup and foul.
Fick added another layup and Rissmiller tied it at 35 after Blair Oaks stole the ball away on a tipped pass.
Blair Oaks didn't score in the next three minutes as Hermann went on a 5-0 spurt, including a second-chance bucket by Quincy Erickson, who scored 11 points.
Hermann finished with a 40-30 advantage in rebounding.
"We played zone all day so it's always a challenge to rebound out of that," Heckman said. "We thought that would give us our best chance because of their size partially, and to find their shooters."
Blair Oaks (3-4) is off until the Holiday Hoops Classic on Dec. 27-29.
The Lady Falcons will face St. Joseph Benton at 5:30 p.m. Dec. 27 in the first round.