Tidioute outscored visiting Austin 12-4 in the fourth quarter to comeback for a 44-40 win Monday.

The Bulldogs (2-0) held the lead at halftime, but trailed the Panthers (1-2) by four heading into the final frame.

“We had the lead in the first half, but they took it at the end of the third,” TCCS coach Terry Cotterman said. “We had to play better defense in the fourth to wear them down. And we did.”

TCCS came out hot and had a 15-10 lead after the first 12 minutes.

“We started out strong, and we’ve been stressing that,” Cotterman said. “We ran our offense real good and got some pretty good looks.”

Patrick Shields and Jared Veasey were the only Bulldogs to score in the frame. Mason Deloe chipped in a bucket in the second, but got into some foul trouble early in the third.

“I lean on the seniors (Veasey and Shields),” Cotterman said. “Mason was in a little foul trouble and had to sit out the third, but he came back to score some points and come down with some big rebounds in the fourth.”

Shields had a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds and also chipped in a pair of blocks. Veasey had a game-high 21 points and nine rebounds. Deloe added six points and nine rebounds in the win.

The scoring was good, but Cotterman was especially pleased with his team’s defensive effort.

“The kids were on defensively,” he said. “We weren’t giving up many good looks. Every kid that stepped on the floor was superb on the defensive end. Ryan Williams didn’t score a point, but his play on the guard was phenomenal.”

The Bulldogs will look to make it three straight to start the season when they welcome Region 3’s Maplewood Wednesday.

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Austin (40)

Fowler 0-0-0-0, Ja. Glover 4-2-2-11, P. Glover 1-0-0-2, Jo. Glover, Valent 2-2-5-6, Burgett 4-0-0-9, D. Glover 5-1-3-11, G. Rees 0-1-2-1, Team 16-5-12-40

TCCS (44)

Shields 6-3-4-17, Veasey 8-5-6-21, Williams 0-0-0-0, Klos 0-0-0-0, Deloe 2-2-3-6, Kennedy 0-0-0-0, Sabella 0-0-0-0, Team 16-10-13-44

By quarters

Austin 10 12 14 4 – 40

TCCS 15 10 7 12 – 44

3-point FGs

Austin (3)-Ja. Glover (2), Burgett. TCCS (2)-Shields (2).