DECATUR – The Colton Smith era has started with a 45-42 win at Decatur to open the season.

“I am proud of how hard we played the entire game,” Brewer head coach Colton Smith said. “We are a young team with a young head coach and assistants. Finding a way to win that game is big for our program.”

The Lady Patriots led 9-5 after the first quarter and led 19-18 at halftime.

Decatur outscored Brewer in a low-scoring third quarter to tie the game at 25-25 heading into the fourth quarter.

The Lady Patriots, who played most of the fourth quarter with two freshmen on the floor, outscored the Lady Red Raiders 20-17 to get the 45-42 victory.

“I loved our fight in the 4th quarter. There were a couple of times we could have folded and didn’t, especially when we were playing two freshmen because of injuries and foul trouble,” Smith said. “We kept getting stops when we needed them.”