SHANNON - North Pontotoc Lady Vikings coach Shane Montgomery was getting a cold feeling Tuesday.

Not from the outside air, but from the frigid fourth quarter free throw shooting of his Lady Vikings. North Pontotoc survived, then prevailed in overtime 52-45 over the Shannon Lady Raiders in a Division 1-4A contest.

"Finally, in overtime, we made our free throws when we needed it," said Montgomery, who saw the Lady Vikings only make 3-of-13 from the line in the fourth quarter. "We persevered."

The Lady Vikings (11-4, 3-2) needed a stubborn attitude as the Lady Raiders (3-4, 2-1) led for most of the first half, including 21-18 at the half. That included 10 first half points and a dominating defensive performance by Shannon post-player Asia Rosebud.

But North Pontotoc got in gear in the third quarter. With Shanda Melton scoring 9 points in the period, the Lady Vikings won the quarter 16-5, and led 34-26.

Always known as a good shot blocker and rebounder, Rosebud showed off a nice shooting touch in the fourth quarter in leading the Lady Raiders from behind. The Shannon post-player drained a key 3-pointer with 31 seconds remaining, then calmly sank three free throws with 8 seconds left to knot the score at 42-42.

"This was a tough game for us," Shannon coach Wesley McKay said. "But we know we have to play hard every night in this division."

North Pontotoc made 8-of-12 free shots in the overtime, never trailing, to grab the victory.

Melton led the Lady Vikings with 17 points, while Rosebud hit 20 for the Lady Raiders.

(B) North Pontotoc 57, Shannon 45

The third period was also key for the Vikings, which outscored Shannon 13-4 in the period, expanding its two point halftime lead to 37-26 by the end of the period.

Ethan Tallant led the Vikings with 23, and Javon Green and Jermar Clifton each scored 15 to pace Shannon.