It was a dismal first half for the Meridian High girls basketball team.

Shots went long. Shots fell short. Shots even bounced off the rim, rolled around and dropped out.

After shooting 17.4 percent from the field and committing 11 turnovers through 16 minutes of basketball, the Warriors felt lucky to trail Capital by six points.

But the Warriors emerged from the locker room a very different team, clawing their way to a 49-45 road win over Capital on Friday night in a key 5A Southern Idaho Conference matchup.

The victory keeps Meridian (9-2, 7-2) in sole possession of third place in the league standings behind Rocky Mountain and Mountain View, who are tied for first at 8-1.

Five-foot-5 senior guard Mykaela Richards spearheaded Meridian’s second-half comeback, making four 3-pointers and going 4-for-4 from the free throw line in the final 30 seconds of the game. Richards finished with a game-high 17 points, and fellow senior Holly Blades chipped in 14 points and seven rebounds.

“The first half we were really frazzled,” Blades said. “In the second half we just pulled it together and knew that we had this. We calmed down and took care of business.”

For Capital (7-4, 5-4), it marked the second straight game the Eagles were unable to hang on after a strong start.

“We do a lot of good things every game, but right now it’s just one quarter that’s getting us almost every single time,” Capital coach Blas Telleria said. “As soon as we can put four quarters together, we’ll be fine.”

Senior Liz Landreth — a Utah State recruit and the reigning league player of the year — paced Capital with 15 points. Sophomore reserve Nicole White added 10 points and seven rebounds.

Capital led 39-38 with 2:06 remaining in the fourth quarter before a Richards 3-pointer put Meridian ahead for good.