The clash between the rival varsity girls basketball teams from Prince Edward County and Buckingham County high schools on Wednesday night proved to be everything fans were hoping for.

While the host Lady Eagles pulled ahead early, the Lady Knights rallied in the second half to make the game an intense nail-biter. Prince Edward ultimately emerged with a 52-50 victory to improve to 8-0 overall and drop Buckingham to 6-2, with its first James River District loss of the season.

“It was what we expected,” Lady Eagles Head Coach Carlton Redd said. “We expected it to be a dogfight. It’ll be a dogfight when we go up there, so you get used to it.”

Prince Edward held on to a 48-45 lead with about two minutes left in the game when senior center Madison Lehman hit a free throw, added a field goal a minute later and then another free throw with 17.6 seconds to help seal the win.

She finished with 13 points, junior guard Ke’Mya Rux added 16 points, and senior point guard Da’Mya Harris led the way with a game-high 22 points. Her first basket in the game helped her reach the 1,500-point milestone in her varsity career.

Harris said it was made possible by “teamwork, my teammates. We all push each other to work hard, so we just work together, and that’s that.”

Buckingham Head Coach Kelly Chambers said the Lady Knights came out flat, and then in the second half “had more energy and started to play more of Buckingham basketball …”

Lady Knights senior guard Jayda Chambers finished with 18 points, while freshman forward Lauren Randolph had 14.