One step forward, one step backward was the theme of the night for the Thomasville Lady Bulldogs.

Thankfully for head coach Lacardo Means, they took just enough steps in the right direction to claim a victory.

Thomasville tries to play at a fast pace, but it was a slow crawl for them all night in pulling off the 55-41 decision over rival Lexington in a Central Carolina Conference clash Friday night.

“We made it a lot harder on ourselves than we needed to,” said Means. “We would play well for two minutes, then we would play poor for three. We didn’t do what we are capable of on the defensive end tonight.”

Christina Carter did a little of everything for the Lady Bulldogs, notching a game-high 19 points to go along with seven steals and seven assists. THS pushed its league record to 3-1, with a 6-3 record overall.

Carter was the catalyst in the second quarter that helped put Thomasville ahead by eight at halftime. Her 11 points in the frame helped mightily, and when she wasn’t scoring, she was generally the one creating for others.

Inconsistency on defense helped keep the Yellow Jackets in it, as Jasmine Carter kept the guests within reach scoring in the post where she was by far the tallest. In the third quarter, though, Thomasville put together eight minutes of pressure that shook Lexington and determined the outcome.

Joselyn Spires and Carter scored layups to open a 14-point quarter for the Lady Dogs. That number is not significant, but it looked a lot bigger considering the Yellow Jackets could only get five points to go on the board.

Lexington scored its fifth and final point with 2:44 showing, and would not score again until the 7:00 mark of the final quarter.

Meanwhile, Thomasville was taking full advantage of precarious ball handling by LHS and converted layups on the break.

After a Davis layup early in the fourth to make it 44-28, Thomasville shifted over into cruise control and coasted home.

Thomasville has a tough load ahead next week as they play three times in a five day stretch. One of the toughest coming Tuesday night when the Lady Bulldogs travel to powerful Salisbury.

“If we do not play better than this on Tuesday, we are going to be in some trouble,” Means said.

Davis contributed 10 points for Thomasville.

Sports Editor Zach Kepley can be reached at 888-3631, or at kepley@tvilletimes.com.