PENDLETON — For Pendleton Heights coach Brian Kahn, it will be a good Christmas break.

The Pendleton Heights Arabians used pressure defense and pinpoint free-throw shooting to defeat the taller Rushville Lions 76-70 on Saturday in a Hoosier Heritage Conference battle in the final game of the Christmas season.

The Arabians made 21-of-24 free throws in the game, including their first 16 attempts, and also took advantage of 17 Rushville turnovers, converting them into 24 points. Pendleton Heights had only eight turnovers, surrendering just 10 points off those miscues.

“We’re starting to understand what it takes to win and that makes Christmas a lot happier,” said Hahn. “We did what we had to do on the defensive end to win. We hit the shots when we needed to, and we hit the free throws when we needed to. We executed well, took good shots and got to the free-throw line. Our decisions were solid.”

Nathan Hendershot led the Arabians with 25 points, three rebounds and three assists, hitting 8-of-13 shots and 8-of-10 free throws. Freshman Kendall Waters had 20 points, making 6-of-11 field goals and 5-of-6 free throws, including three 3-pointers. Michael Maxwell was also in double figures with 15 points and five rebounds, including three 3-pointers and 6-of-6 at the free-throw line.

Rushville shot 57 percent from the field and had a 28-16 advantage on the boards, including 12-7 on the offensive glass. However, Pendleton Heights finished at 51 percent shooting, including 9-of-18 from 3-point range.

“We knew Rushville could score, and in the first quarter we gave them too many opportunities to score and they had 10 offensive rebounds,” Hahn said. “We finally reacted to the challenge on the boards in the second half. Once we got the lead, we could spread it out and use our speed against their size.”

Pendleton Heights led 7-2 early, but a 15-0 run by Rushville gave the visitors at 10-point lead, and they had a 22-12 advantage after the first quarter. The Arabians outscored the Lions 22-16 in the second frame, cutting the deficit to 38-34 at the half.

The Arabians finally caught the Lions at 44 after a 10-4 run over the first three minutes of the third quarter. Maxwell’s two free throws with 4 1/2 minutes left in the quarter gave the Arabians the lead at 48-46, and they entered the final period with a 56-52 advantage.

Pendleton Heights led 62-56 with six minutes left in the game, but Rushville went on a 9-2 run to take its final lead of the game at 65-64 with just under three minutes left in the contest. Waters’ 3-pointer on the next possession gave the Arabians the lead for good and they led by as many as nine points at 76-67 in the final seconds.

Pendleton Heights (3-4, 1-2 HHC) plays in the Madison County tournament, starting on Jan. 5. Rushville dropped to 4-2 overall and 1-1 in the HHC.