The freshman and junior varsity Lady Trojan basketball teams had successful home debuts on Tuesday night as they tamed the Ingleside Lady Mustangs in both encounters.

The freshman girls captured a 27-19 victory behind a strong fourth quarter defensive effort.

The young Mustangs were in front, 6-4, after the first period but the Beeville girls were up by one at the half in the close contest.

It was still close at 15-13 at the end of three periods. The Lady Trojans still had the slim lead.

The Trojan defense kicked in and jump-started the offense down the stretch as the Beeville girls pulled away for the 27-19 win.

Marissa Rodriguez came up with eight steals in the final quarter and finished with 10 points to to lead the Lady Trojan scoring.

Freshman coach Jason Hinds acknowledged the defensive efforts of Rodriguez along with Cheyenne Del Bosque.

“She took two charges and her unselfish defense made Ingleside take some forced shots out of their offensive scheme of things,” Hinds said.

Alyssa Bates, Liza Tamez and Samantha Salazar also scored for the Lady Trojans in the win.

“What has been great about this young team is that they play together and win as a team,” Hinds said.

Down by two at the end of the first period, the JV girls rallied in the second quarter with some outstanding pressure defense to take a 24-21 lead at the half. Both teams hit for eight points in the third period to make it a 32-29 game.

The Beeville defense was again stifling in the fourth as point guard Tori Muñoz pestered the Mustangs into submission. Steal after steal led to Beeville points and the Lady Trojans raced by the Mustangs for a 47-34 win, outscoring Ingleside 15-5 in the fourth.

“We improved every period and we caught our second wind late in the game,” said coach Gracy Bryce.

Muñoz finished with a team-high 13 points. Amanda Gonzales hit for eight markers. Brianna Jackson recorded six while Krystal Cuellar added five. Rebecca Contreras, Celeste Contreras and Kat DeLeon each had four. Adrianna Baltazar picked up two points in the fourth quarter while Selyna Guerra made one free throw.

“We really need to work on our free throws. Our percentages are down, but we’ll be working on it and it will benefit our offensive output,” Bryce said.

The Lady Trojans were in Corpus Christi last night to meet Moody. The Lady Trojans will have games next Monday and Tuesday before they break for Thanksgiving. Monday’s contest will be in West Oso and Tuesday night the Lady Trojans will host the Ray Lady Texans. The first games next week will tip off at 5 p.m.