It is a well known, but unspoken, fact in sports that teams playing at home can enjoy a certain amount of "home cooking" from officials. That wasn't the case Tuesday night as Middle Tennessee Christian enjoyed the privilege in a 69-54 District 9-A victory in Unionville.

Viqueens Heather Small and Marrisa Jones fight for a loose ball with Lady Cougar Kate Mullins (30). (T-G Photo by Jimmy Jones) [Click to enlarge]

Community (11-2, 2-1 9-A) traded leads 11 times in three and one-half quarters with the Lady Cougars in a very fast paced, physical contest that was much closer than the final score indicates.

Both teams came out firing from the opening whistle. Each connected on three 3-pointers as they combined for 40 points. Middle Tennessee Christian (12-4, 3-0) led 22-18 heading to the second frame.

Heather Small and Jessica Thompson teamed to score all of Community's 12 points in the second period to match the visitors' output. The half ended 34-30 in the Lady Cougars' favor.

"We played very well in the first half," Viqueen coach Tony Garrette said. "The girls came out focused and ready to play. I was pleased with our approach to the game and we executed our game plan pretty much as it was drawn up.

"We continued to play well in the third period and we were handling the physical play very well until it was taken out of our hands."

The two opponents continued to trade baskets and leads and momentum seemed to teeter with each trip down the floor for the two teams.

Free throws determined the outcome. The Lady Cougars stepped to the line 16 times, converting 14, in the third and fourth quarters.

In stark contrast, Community was not fouled in the second half until 12 seconds left to play.

"We didn't do the things that we needed to do to finish out the game," Garrette said. "We made some unforced turnovers and we hit about a four-minute cold spell offensively that we were unable to overcome.

"We shot five free throws in the game and they shot 22. That is a big surprise to me considering their approach to the game on a physical level.

"Both teams played hard and we had our chances to take over the game. We just didn't get it done. That is the bottom line."

MTC placed four players in double figures in scoring with sophomore Katie Dunn leading the way with 20. Lindsey Lee contributed 16, Katie McKnight 12 and Kate Mullins tossed in 10.

The Lady Cougars were outstanding from the charity stripe as they connected on 16-of-22 attempts.

Small led Community with 19 points, hitting four 3-pointers. Thompson was right behind her with 18.

The loss broke up a nine-game Viqueen winning streak. It was the longest such streak in recent memory for a Unionville team.

Community heads to Spencer to take on Van Buren County at 6 p.m. Friday in another key district matchup.