BANCROFT - Foul trouble and a bad start for the North Gem girls' basketball team didn't matter after the Cowboys turned a third-quarter streak of 3-pointers into a 55-49 home win over Mackay on Thursday.

"Honestly, we played bad in the first half. The refs were calling it tight and we had a lot of girls in foul trouble going into halftime," said North Gem coach Corry Hatch.

However, the Cowboys came out strong in the third quarter and were able to save some of the players in foul trouble for use later in the game.

Hatch said it was a hard-fought game with a total of 72 foul shots, but his team's persistence made the difference against Mackay.

The North Gem girls go to 13-7 on the season and 6-1 in the Rocky Mountain Conference. They will play Leadore on Saturday.