NEWPORT — It was just what Tammy Anderson had prepared against and hoped to avoid Tuesday night.

Facing the only team to beat them in the regular season last year, the Hornets knew Nokomis would provide one of the biggest challenges of this season.

“We spent a lot of time the last couple of days trying to keep them from escalating and getting too pumped up,” said Anderson. “When we got out there, inevitably, we got ourselves in a hole.”

Anderson’s worst fear came true as her Hornets fell behind by double digits in the first quarter. Leavitt was able to rally and take a seven-point lead by halftime, and then held off a pair of rallies by the Warriors in the second half for a dramatic 66-61 win.

“We had a lot of nerves coming into this game,” said senior guard Courtney Anderson. “They were the one regular-season game we lost last year. It takes a lot out of you. I’m not going to lie. I was probably more nervous than another other game I’ve gone into, and I’ve gone into a lot of games in my career.”

Anderson led the Hornets (10-0) with 29 points. Adrie Newton added 12. With foul trouble hampering Newton and Kristen Anderson (nine points), Leavitt got significant contributions from starters Amanda Jordan and Abbey Randall and Sarah Frost off the bench.

“It was a good test for us,” said Tammy Anderson. “Win or lose, I think we needed this game to get ready for what we want to do down the road.”

Nokomis (8-2) was led by Kylie Richards with 14 and Kelsie Richards with 11. Marissa Shaw and Emilee Reynolds each had 10.

The Warriors couldn’t miss to start the game while Leavitt missed its first eight shots. It enabled Nokomis to build a 10-0 lead, eight points coming from Reynolds.

“I wasn’t nervous when it was 10-0,” said Tammy Anderson. “I think the kids started to get amped up a little bit, and they tried to do too much. Once I got them to settle down and play ball and play one basket at a time, I knew we could climb back in.”

Though Nokomis was up by as many as 12 points in the first quarter, Leavitt started to find its footing and cut the lead down to 19-14 at the end of the quarter.

The Hornets settled in and started hitting shots and took care of the basketball. Leavitt also started to get some Nokomis turnovers. The Warrior team that started off looking unstoppable suddenly looked tentative in the second quarter. Leavitt began to outhustle them and beat them on the boards.

“They came out and hit their first 10 shots or something,” said Courtney Anderson. “I was like ‘This could be a long night.’ If you shoot 100 percent from the field, that’s not going to go like that the whole game. We had to keep that in mind, and once we did that, it helped us settle down a little bit.”

Leavitt tied the game twice in the second and took the lead late in the half. The Hornets used a 12-5 run to build a 35-28 advantage. Kristen Anderson hit a 3 pointer and after free throws by Julie Smith, Kristen Anderson converted a steal that lead to five straight to finish the half.

Leavitt had the lead up to as many as 13 in the third, but the Warriors rallied and got within two on a 3 from Smith. That was part of 11 straight points as the Nokomis press forced a number of Leavitt turnovers.

Courtney Anderson finished the third with a jumper and then the Hornets opened the fourth with eight straight on a pair of hoops by Newton and baskets by Courtney Anderson and Randall.

The Warriors had one more rally left and ran off 10 straight, including a pair of 3’s by Kylie and Kelsie Richards. That got Nokomis within 63-61 with 1:31 left.

“When it got down to two, Courtney provided some leadership for us out there,” said Tammy Anderson. “We had to make sure Sarah was secure with the ball when it was passed to her. She did a great job. In situations like that, you have people coming off the bench that aren’t used to that situation.”

Leavitt worked the clock and got free throws from Frost and Randall to pad the lead. The Hornets defense also force a pair of late turnovers that nixed the Warriors hopes.

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