Clements withstood a strong effort from Elkmont to come away with a hard-fought 55-49 win in the first round of the Limestone County girls tournament on Tuesday night.

The Colts, the tournament’s No. 3 seed, trailed 21-20 at halftime to the sixth-seeded Red Devils, but used an 11-0 run early in the third quarter to take a 31-24 lead.

However, Elkmont’s hot 3-point shooting kept them in the game, and the Red Devils cut the Clements lead to 37-34 after three quarters.

Clements started the fourth quarter strong to extend the lead back out to 49-38, but the Red Devils came back again, going on a quick 11-3 run to trim the lead to 52-49 after Raleigh Wallace hit a 3-pointer with 2:15 remaining.

But the Colts once again weathered the storm, as Emrey McGill made a basket with 1:20 left to push the lead back out to five points and Elkmont couldn’t find a basket in the final minute.

McGill and Lily Miller both scored 13 points to lead Clements while Abby Craig chipped in with nine.

Wallace led Elkmont with 15 points on five 3-point baskets. The Red Devils made 10 3-pointers as a team. Bailee Vining added 13 points for Elkmont while Haven Kirby tallied 11.

Clements advances to take on second-seeded Tanner in the semifinals at 6:30 p.m. Friday.

Limestone County Boys Tournament

Clements 48, Ardmore 36

Clements was in desperate need of a win after losing its previous two area games, and a strong defensive effort and better shooting was the ticket in a 12-point victory over Ardmore.

The Colts defense set the tone early by holding Ardmore to just four points in the first quarter, and never allowed the Tigers to score more than 11 points in any quarter.

Clements, the tournament’s No. 3 seed, held sixth-seeded Ardmore to just 24.6 percent shooting, including 2-22 from behind the 3-point line. Clements, on the other hand, was 10-22 from beyond the 3-point stripe.

After trailing by 12 midway through the fourth quarter, Ardmore made one final push, and cut the Clements lead to 37-32, but the Colts answered with a Kaleb Fletcher layup and a Shane Starnes 3-pointer to push the lead back out to 10 points and were never threatened again.

Ryland Kirk led Clements with 13 points, while Starnes and Lucas Bailey both scored 11 for the Colts.

Ardmore was led by Colton Hardiman with 10 points and Matthew Eckstein with nine.

Clements advances to face No. 2 seed West Limestone in the tournament semifinals at 8 p.m. Friday.