TURNER — Life was rough in the backcourt for Mt. Blue senior guard Leah St. Laurent.

She was pushed, shoved, knocked to the ground and often doubled-teamed by Leavitt’s unrelenting defense.

But the intrepid St. Laurent shook herself off and kept her composure, helping the Cougars (4-10) shake off the stubborn Hornets (6-9) with a 40-31 victory in a girls’ basketball game Tuesday night.

“To get knocked around like that, you really have to keep your composure. That’s a big part of the game,” St. Laurent said. “Game like this it’s focused on who can keep their composure and not let them get to you and knowing when good shots can be taken or just playing back.

“I think we did great. We beat them once and we beat them again. I think we played with composure, obviously, and we were very positive … the communication worked very well tonight.”

“She’s the one player who has played consistent every single game for me,” Mt. Blue coach Fred Conlogue said. “She has had a stellar season for me. She does not stop. She didn’t even realize she scored 12 points.

“I thought Rebecca Harmon had a great second half rebounding. She ended up with 12 rebounds for the game, so I thought that was big for us.”

With the Hornets breathing down the Cougars’ backs, Mt. Blue worked for every point in the first half, building a 20-14 lead at halftime.

But the Hornets are a determined bunch and know how to hustle down the stretch. Leavitt’s offense crept up on the overwrought Cougars in the third quarter, but Mt. Blue held on tight for a 27-24 leading going into the fourth.

In the fourth, it was anybody’s guess which team would come out on top. The Hornets didn’t score for nearly four minutes and Mt. Blue was missing easy shots underneath the basket.

“You have those games when you just can’t get over the hump,” Leavitt coach Dave Gerrish said. “We worked hard to get back into it, and we tried to press a little bit at the end, and they made some plays and they were positive for them. They were negative for us.”

The Cougars couldn’t buy a basket and that’s when Leavitt senior guard Shannon O’Malley scored four of her 11 points from underneath and on a furious drive to the net, cutting Mt. Blue’s lead to three, 31-28.

But Mt. Blue senior Hannah LeClair’s basket inside the key wtih 2:13 left in the game opened a five-point lead.

LeClair’s two points apparently inspired the Cougars to get their act together on offense.

Senior Kasadie Barker scored as she waited underneath the net, Lexi Mittelstadt came up with two of her eight points and St. Laurent nailed down 3 of her team-high 12 points from the free-throw line. St. Laurent made 10 shots from the charity stripe thanks to her fearless drives to the basket.

“Big win — yes,” Conlogue said. “I was impressed with our composure down the stretch again. We broke their press those last three times. I thought that was kind of key to the game.

“Our offense wasn’t working very well. The second half, we started off with that first hoop, and we looked like we would be cruising, but they kept battling and coming back at you. Give his kids a lot of credit. They didn’t stop playing. It was a good win for us.

Leavitt’s Allie Belaire scored the team-high 12 points.