The Rhea County High School Lady Eagles' basketball team (4-10) went from dwelling in the cellar to soaring over the competition Tuesday night.

The hometown girls secured a 61-29 victory over the visiting Chattanooga Patriots, their largest margin of victory this season.

It was still a ball game at the half, when Rhea County led 28-19, but the Lady Eagles pulled away, outscoring their guests 11-7 in the third and 22-3 in the fourth.

Brittany Landreth led the team with 15 points, followed closely behind by freshman Whitney Thompson's 13 and sophomore Sarah Nixon's nine.

In all, 10 Lady Eagles lit up the scoreboard in the effort.

Meanwhile, Rhea County's boys edged their way back toward .500 with a 51-48 win over the Pats. 

The Golden Eagles (7-8) trailed by as many as 10 points during the contest,  but battled their way back into the game.

Rhea County trailed 32-27 at the half but went on a nine-point scoring spree to pull ahead 38-35.

The close contest came down to free throws in the final quarter, as 15 of the 24 points scored in the fourth came from the charity stripe. 

Senior Tyler Wilkerson drained a foul shot with 1:30 remaining to put the Eagles up 49-48, but there was plenty of time left to play. 

Rhea County played keep away for roughly a minute before the Patriots fouled and got the rebound on a missed free throw. After driving down the court, Chattanooga missed its shot and Logsdon grabbed the rebound. Wilkerson sank two more free throws to seal the game.

The Golden Eagles were led in scoring by J.J. Hill and Wilkerson, who each drained 13 points, while Branden Logsdon added 10 more.

Junior Hunter Daniels controlled the game beneath the basket, snagging seven rebounds, followed by senior Andy Smith with five boards.

Rhea County will return to action Tuesday night, hosting District 5-AAA foe Ooltewah High School at 6 and 7:30 p.m.

Cathy Barnes can be contacted at cathy.barnes@rheaheraldnews.com.