FAIRHOPE, Alabama — It was a Pink Out at Pirate Gym Friday night for a special member of the Fairhope community who happens to be a Fairhope basketball mom as well. Tandy Tait White was given a night of appreciation for her contributions to Fairhope area school programs and to show support for her in her ongoing battle against breast cancer.

All of the players, coaches, officials and most fans wore something pink for the evening. White's daughter Sidney White plays guard for the Lady Pirates and her nephews Rushing and Davis Watson play for the Pirates.

The Black and Orange and Pink Lady Tigers of Baldwin County High held off a late surge by the Blue and Gold and Pink Lady Pirates Friday night to take a 42-37, 6A Area 3 basketball victory. The Baldwin County High girls remained undefeated in area play (3-0) and 5-2 overall while the Lady Pirates dropped to 3-6 overall and 0-2 in the league with both area losses to BCHS.

Fairhope finished the first half with a big rally after trailing 9-3 to start the second period. The two teams traded ties and 1-point leads in the second quarter but the Lady Pirates’ 19-15 five-minute run closed the margin to make a game of it with a 19-18 Tiger advantage at the break.

BCHS outscored the home team 11-10 in the third to net a 2-point 30-28 lead. Fairhope tied it 30-30 early in the final quarter on back-to-back offensive rebound put-backs by Simone Bracy and Katie Brayer. But BCHS put together an 8-0 run led by Darnosha Maye before FHS guard Haley Melton hit a 3-pointer, then stole the inbound pass and fed Sidney White for a Pirate layup to trim the Tiger lead back to 38-35 with 3:39 left in the game. White and Kirksey then made back-to-back, back-court steals, but were unable to convert.

Forced to foul, FHS sent Darnisha and Denosha May to the line where the Tigers extended the lead 40-35. Melton made both ends of a final trip to the line with 31 seconds to go for the final score.

“It’s good to be up 3-0 in the area,” said BCHS head coach Robert Wills. “I feel really good about getting out of here (Fairhope) with a win. Fairhope played a good game tonight. Coach (Fairhope head coach Jessica) Webb had them ready to play tonight. She's got some good players here and always does a good job for them. So I feel pretty good with how we responded to the pressure. I feel like we are making some good progress so far this year but we still need to work on some things."

Webb was disappointed but pleased with the effort and passion of her players. "I was really proud of my girls tonight. They played with a lot of heart and with a lot of energy. We had some missed shots in key situations and that's all the game came down to in the last few minutes. It was a kind of a (wavy) back and forth, up and down game that unfortunately ended with us down. Another minute and we might have been back up. But that's the way it went."

Webb added that the Pink Out went well and was for a good cause.

"We will be giving a portion of the proceeds to the Breast Cancer Foundation on top of the awareness and the education we want to raise for all the girls and the community. But we also just wanted to do something for Sidney and for Tandy who is so loved in the community and to show we care and to give the community this opportunity to give back as well as bring everybody together. We really appreciate everybody who came out tonight and I just want to thank them so much for their support."

Nakea McDougal led the Lady Tigers with 13 points, Denosha Maye added 11 and Darnisha Maye six. BCHS made 12-of-23 free throws. Melton scored 10 points for Fairhope, Brayer and White had six each and Kirksey five. The Lady Pirates were 14-for 22 at the line.

Baldwin County plays at Daphne High School Tuesday night in another 6A Area 3 showdown at 6 p.m. The Lady Pirates play in the Saint Paul's Premier Holiday Tournament Dec. 21 at Saint Paul's Episcopal School at 6 p.m.