DECATUR — After trailing by six points at half, Florence made a defensive adjustment to put the Falcons back in the game.

Adjusting to a zone defense, the Falcons tied the score at 23, adding 11 points in the third quarter, but it wasn’t enough to overcome James Clemens as it beat Florence 44-37 in the opening round of the Class 6A, Area 16 tournament.

“It’s still a 16-minute half. The game wasn’t over. It was all about going out there and trying to execute. We did did that, we just didn’t have enough at the end,” Florence coach Marc Johnson said.

Alexis Sherrod led Florence (8-14) with 13 points, while Kaitlin Thompson scored 10 and Emily Towery added seven.

Hailey Hicks led all scorers with 16 points, half of which were scored in the last quarter to keep the Jets alive. Markayla Parker added 13 points Clemens, while China Leary scored 12.

“It was a bit hard at first, but after we got used to it we adjusted,” said Hicks of Florence’s second-half defensive switch.

“We were just trying to make a statement and say that we aren’t ready to go home, because we really needed this win,” she continued.

James Clemens (15-12) plays Austin on Monday at 6 p.m., in the championship game.