It was all Fulton for much of the night on Tuesday at Mexico’s Sports Complex.

Or rather, it was all – almost – Fulton’s Sydney Hedgepath. She opened the scoring, banking one off the glass. When Bulldogs senior Abby Oetting drained a three, she responded with one of her own.

“We looked dead,” observed Mexico’s Mya Miller.

Hedgepath racked up 19 points. But her last score came with 5:23 left in the game. And by that time the Bulldogs had roared back to life.

From the moment Oetting’s shot creased the net, Mexico went on a tear. Down by 9 points at the time – as they had been much of the game – the Bulldogs outscored Fulton 22-7 down the stretch and shut the door so hard defensively the Hornets could only manage Hedgepath’s two free throws.

The Bulldogs pulled it out 44-38 to go 14-3 on the season.

In Oetting’s words, it was as if Mexico flipped a switch. “We didn’t want to lose,” she added.

Immediately after she and Mexico’s nemesis traded threes in the third, Riley Thurman dropped one in from distance. Then Jordyn looked to shoot from beyond the arc. But it was a ruse that opened a path to the rim that she cruised for a lay up.

A steal by Taylor DeMint led to a couple more points. Suddenly the Bulldogs were down by only two, 34-32.

As the final period got underway, Riley Thurman intercepted a pass and dished to Alexis Willer, who found Miller driving toward the rim.

But it was still a narrow 38-34 Fulton game as the clock ticked under the 5 minute mark – until the Hornets’ Olivia Gowan fouled Riley Thurman. She thanked the visitors by sinking both shots. Miller was hacked next, during a fracas under the glass that saw Mexico grab several rebounds, only to miss the put backs.

No matter. Miller knocked down both to even things at 38-38.

“Every little thing counts,” Miller said casually.

From that moment it was all about the Bulldogs. Riley Blevins tipped a Fulton pass as they tried to move the ball inside. It fell into the hands of DeMint, who took off down court, trailing friend and foe behind her.

The fast break gave Mexico the lead for good.

“The girls were all behind me,” reported Taylor, normally a three point specialist. “I had to get that lay up.”

Moments later Riley Thurman picked off a ball and hustled toward the net. This time she had company, in the form of Blevins.

Thurman drove toward the basket, but deftly rolled the ball to Blevins, who converted.

“I just read their pass right, and I knew Riley had a better shot,” Thurman said.

With Mexico on top 43-38 and time running out, the Hornets made one more attempt to close the gap. But it was senior night at MHS and the Bulldogs’ lone senior was there.

Oetting slapped the ball away from Fulton’s Kier Henderson and that was it.

“We were applying pressure,” Oetting noted. “It ended up in my hands.”

It was a dramatic change in momentum. The Bulldogs pummeled Fulton 12-2 in the fourth after a sluggish first half.

“We knew we had to step it up,” DeMint said.

Throughout the first two periods, Mexico struggled to penetrate the Hornets’ active 2-3 zone, only finding 2 points in the paint.

Oetting, Willer and and Jordyn Thurman scored from three point range. And Willer added a shot from just inside the arc. It was 22-14 favoring Fulton at the break.

“I was really pleased with the girls, how they made things happen,” said Mexico head coach Ed Costley.