PENDLETON — As a sophomore last season, Kalan McGlothan caught the eye of many Pendleton Buckaroo fans.

The 5-foot-8 forward was a little undersized for her position, but often made up for the height difference with a work ethic and physical presence around the basket. She performed well enough to garner first team all-league honors and helped her Buckaroo team to a spot in the 5A play-in round.

But so far in 2016, McGlothan appears to have taken her game to another level. The junior recorded her third-straight double-double on Tuesday night with 18 points and 14 rebounds to help her Buckaroos to a 44-40 come-from-behind victory over the Southridge (WA) Suns at Warberg Court.

McGlothan said she attributes her torrid start to a smooth transition period between volleyball and basketball seasons.

“I really love basketball and when I came into the season I thought ‘Oh I’m out of shape’ but then the first game hit and I felt like I had never stopped playing,” she said. “I’ve felt great and I hope to keep it going for the rest of the year.”

Fourteen of McGlothan’s points came in the second half, including three buckets and four made free throws in the fourth quarter that helped Pendleton’s late-game push.

“She’s an absolute beast,” Pendleton coach Kevin Porter said of McGlothan. “She’s strong, she’s physical, she holds her position and she’s been our focal point the entire year. She just works hard on every possession and doesn’t take time off.”

The Buckaroos (3-0) trailed for all but four minutes in the game, taking the lead for the first time at 37-36 with 4:32 left in the fourth quarter following an offensive rebound and putback by McGlothan. Southridge responded with two free throws to take back the lead, but then another lay-in by McGlothan put the Bucks back in front 39-38 — this time for good.

It’s the third straight game that the Buckaroos have won by less than five points, which Porter says is continuing to be a great teaching lesson for his team.

“It’s teaching them that you never give in and you keep trying because in the end if you make a few plays you can get there and that’s what they’re doing,” he said. “Now we just need to figure out how to take some momentum and run with it. Right now we’re staying with teams and letting teams stay with us, now we need to build on that and expand.”

Pendleton struggled all game with jump shots and finished the game 0-8 from 3-point range. Porter says it’s comforting to know his team can still find ways to win inside when the jumps shots aren’t falling.

“Our strength is obviously in the paint and we’ll start to knock down outside shots I have no doubt about that,” he said. “Once we get our outside stuff going with that it’s going to be fun.”

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Girls

SHS 13 7 12 8 — 40

PHS 6 13 12 13 — 44

SOUTHRIDGE — E. Smith 10, S. Sanders 10, M. Solensky 8, K. Pope 6, Team 4, H. Thomas 2.

PENDLETON — K. McGlothan 18, H. Greb 7, J. Lemberger 7, M. Davies 5, L. Richards 4, K. Bradt 2, T. Fell 1, M. George, E. Nirschl.

3-pointers — SHS 2, PHS 0. Free throws — SHS 8-11, PHS 12-23. Fouls — SHS 16, PHS 9.