Calhoun got off to an early lead Saturday night against Straughn and would hold that lead to win the girls Class 3A, Area 3 championship, 42-32, at Straughn High School.

The Lady Tigers (22-6) fell behind 9-5 after the first quarter, 20-15 at halftime and 26-25 after the third quarter.

Straughn coach Scott Kinsaul said losing Saturday night was “tough.”

“It’s tough,” Kinsaul said. “It really is. One of our slogans has been mental toughness and perseverance and we’re just going to have to display that now.

“The girls know that we’ve got a tough challenge ahead of us and they’ve met every challenge I’ve issued them this year. There is no doubt in my mind they’ll meet this challenge (playing T.R. Miller in the sub-regionals on Thursday),” he said.

Kinsaul said they will go “back to the drawing board” to get ready for the game Thursday.

“T.R. Miller is a pressure-filled team like we are so we’re going to have to really work on handling their pressure,” he said. “We didn’t make a single three (pointer Saturday night) and we got killed on the boards.

“We had to shoot well to win and we didn’t,” he said. “The effort was there and my girls played hard.”

The leading scorers for Calhoun were Raven James with 11 points and Walshannon Smith and Ashanti Smith with nine points apiece.

For Straughn, Tiffany Freeney had eight points and Kayla Teel put up seven.

Straughn will travel to play No. 8 T.R. Miller Thursday night in Brewton. Tip off is at 7 p.m.