It had been a struggle for Tompkins all night.

The Falcons could never find a rhythm, could never et their offense going against Katy. But they stayed in things, finding a way to overcome a overcome a six point deficit with three minutes remaining, trimming the deficit to one with just seconds remaining in the game. And with the game in the balance, there was only one person to go to for a clutch bucket, Rihanna DeLeon.

The junior shooting guard came up with one of the biggest plays of her career, slipping past defenders on the perimeter and finding just enough space on the perimeter to nail a three pointer at the final buzzer, sending the Falcons to a 56-54 win over Katy and keeping Tompkins tied for first place in District 19-6A.

“I knew we had a good a good play for it and I just found a space,” DeLeon said. “The ball felt good coming off my fingers and it was just an awesome feeling. I’m so happy we got this win and that we kept fighting all game.”

Fight was the best word to describe what the Falcons did all night. Overcoming everything thrown at them and beating a Katy team that was fighting for their playoff lives as teams enter the second half of district.

Katy came out as the aggressor from the start and took an early lead, not letting it go until the final seconds. The Tigers led 13-12 after the first quarter and built that into a 25-19 lead at halftime, which the Tigers held onto as they went into the fourth quarter leading 43-37.

But Tompkins met Katy’s physicality head on in the fourth quarter and fought their way back into it, never letting up throughout.

“In the locker room after the game the players said the lessons they learned were ‘never give up’ and ‘play to the last second’,” said Tompkins head coach Tamatha Ray. “That’s what these girls did tonight. Katy came in with an awesome gameplan and they executed it. We had opportunities that we squandered. But the pressure we amped up in the third and fourth quarter really changed it. The press got us back into it.”

Tompkins made that change to go into the full court press with around four minutes remaining and down nine in the fourth quarter and it immediately paid dividends. Tompkins trimmed the lead to six with three minutes left and down to four with just over a minute remaining on a big three-pointer by Sascha Coughran, then trimming it to one when Haylie Panter stole an inbounds pass and hit a layup, getting a foul and converting the free throw as well. After two free throws by Katy, DeLeon trimmed the deficit to one with 30 seconds left on a contested layup and after forcing a turnover, Tompkins got an inbounds with just seconds left in the game that DeLeon converted on the game winning three-pointer at the buzzer.

“We just have the grit and composure in those moments,” said Coughran, a sophomore point guard. “We never got down on ourselves and we found a way to win it in the end. Everyone stepped up and made plays when they had to.”

DeLeon led the way with 17 for Tompkins while Gabby Panter had 15 and Caitlyn D’Addieco had 11 points. It was an important one for Tompkins as they kept pace with Taylor at the top of the district table as the Falcons try to compete for another district title.

“This was a huge one,” Ray said. “This whole district is a gauntlet and you can’t just put down a win so to get a win and be able to come back like this against a really good team was big. I’m just proud of the fight.”

District 19-6A

Tompkins 56, Katy 54

Points: (T) Rihanna DeLeon 17, Gabby Panter 15, Caityln D’Addieco 11, Sascha Coughran 6, Kate Hopkins 4, Haylie Panter 3; (K) Nyla Wold 16, Ashlynn Alexander 12, Kaysen Miller 8, Sophia Garza 7, Macey Spellins 5, Emma Lawler 3, Hailynn Obregon 3;

Halftime: Katy 25-19; 3-Pointers: (T) DeLeon 3, Coughran 2, Panter; (K) Wold 2, Lawler, Alexander, Obregon, Spellins, Garza; Records: (T) 21-4, 8-1; (K) 15-7, 4-5;