ROBERTSDALE. Ala.—The Central Christian Lady Saints rallied back from a 21-14 halftime deficit to claim the 2014 West Region title in the Panhandle Christian Conference with a 60-42 home win over Aletheia Christian Academy of Pensacola, Fla., in the championship game Saturday.

CCS Saints senior McKenna Fountain was named the West Region MVP.

“it was a great comeback effort,” said Central head coach Michael Turner. “Just got off to a bad start offensively. Missed a lot of shots we usually make. Missed nine free throws in the first quarter which is very unlike us. So, we were getting the calls and the shots but were not able to take advantage.

"But then we had a good run (19-10) in the second quarter. Got back to playing our game. Started getting to the basket and making  buckets. Still down at the half, but we kept that momentum going into the third. Really proud of them for that.”

Three consecutive 3-pointers to open the second half and a 13-3 run shortly after put the Lady Saints back in control 27-25 less than three minutes (2:56) gone from the third period.

CCS went on to lead 43-32 to start the fourth and outscored the Lady Lions 17-10 down the stretch.

Haley Henson scored 16 points, Autumn Peyton 15, McKenna Fountain 12 and Becky Shelton finished with 10 to lead the Saints. Henson added five steals and Shelton had four steals with four assists. Paige Depperschmidt added six points for CCS down the stretch. Savannah Quinn led ACA with 14 points, Sophia Frensley added 12 and Hannah Jones 10.

Fountain, a senior, was named the West Region MVP.

“McKenna has been a staple of this team and a big reason for our success,” Turner said. “An excellent shooter, senior leader for us. When things are down she stays on course, keeps attacking, hard to rattle. You can’t keep her down long and she just helps keep us steady.”

In the third quarter Fountain hit a three-pointer and Shelton hit two three-pointers back-to-back on the next two possessions to take the lead.

“Becky is our junior point guard but when she got hot like that I moved her to a shooting guard and she kept getting open and kept making big outside shots and she hit two more big 3-pointers in a row to help keep the turn around going for us.

The Lady Saints will now travel to the Panhandle Christian Conference Final Four to defend their last three consecutive PCC titles. The Final Four will be held at Calvary Christian Academy February 14-15 in Fort Walton Beach, Fla.

CCS will play the East Region runner up Friday while the Lions will face the East Region champs.

Calvary Christian Academy is located at 535 Clifford Street, Fort Walton Beach, Fla.

Visit: ccafwb.org for directions.