Clements girls basketball coach Zach Meadows knew his team would face a tough challenge from Elkmont in Tuesday night’s first round of the Limestone County Tournament, and he was correct.

The sixth-seed and host Red Devils gave the third-seeded Colts all they could handle for close to four quarters before Clements was finally able to pull out a 55-49 victory.

“Elkmont played great, and a lot of credit goes to them,” Meadows said. “They played with a lot of energy. It’s their home court, they’re hosting the tournament, and they came out with a lot of passion and emotion. I thought they outplayed us a lot of the game.”

While Elkmont came into the game with energy, Clements was a little flat after a tough Class 3A, Area 15 win over East Lawrence on Monday night which clinched second place in the area.

“We had a very emotional game (Monday) night at East Lawrence that went late,” Meadows said. “I thought we were a little bit tired, but we go 10 deep, so that shouldn’t be an excuse. But I’m very proud of my girls, because things didn’t go right, but we still found a way to win, and you need games like this late in the season before the area tournament.”

Clements trailed 24-20 early in the third quarter but went on an 11-0 run 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 strongly 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 Clements made the next big play, as Katie Hall passed to Emrey McGill on a backdoor cut that led to a layup with 1:20 remaining and gave the Colts some breathing room.

Elkmont’s final three possessions all ended with missed shots, and Clements hit one final free throw with 8 seconds remaining for the final margin.

McGill’s final basket capped off her sterling fourth quarter. The team’s leading scorer had accounted for just four points in the first three quarters but scored nine in the final frame to help the Colts hang on for the win.

“Emrey has played well for us the whole season,” Meadows said. “She seems to always make the play when we really need it. Katie Hall made a great pass on that backdoor to Emrey and that was a big play. They really executed that in a really tight situation that could’ve gone wrong.”

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 play No. 2 seed Tanner in the tournament semifinals at 6:30 p.m. Friday. After playing two big games in two days, Meadows is glad for the two days off.

“I’m really proud of my girls,” he said. “It’s just good to win a tournament game, get some rest and get ready for Friday. We need that break. We’re going to play a good team on Friday, but we’ll get a little bit of rest and hopefully we’ll be ready for them.”