SUMMERLAND — Down seven points early in the fourth quarter, Elgin Public-Pope John came from behind to defeat the Lady Bobcats 48 to 45.
The Wolfpack trailed 39 to 32 with 7:23 left in the game, then outscored Summerland 16 to six to claim a road victory to end the regular season.
“With six minutes left, I knew we had to get something going,” Coach Randy Eisenhauer said about the game. “We switched to a man-to-man defense and that got some energy going for us.”
Junior Ashlynne Charf took over in the fourth quarter. Having sat on the bench for much of the second half due to foul trouble, her play down the stretch allowed EPPJ to claim their 19th victory of the season heading into subdistrict action this week.
“I just knew I needed to score,” she said about the fourth quarter heroics. “I guess it worked out.”
Charf scored nine of the team’s 12 points in a four-and-a-half minute span. The other points came on a trey by Keyera Eisenhauer.
Charf’s last basket in the run gave EPPJ a 44 to 41 lead with 2:50 to play.
Summerland junior Adyson Mlnarik had back-to-back baskets to pull the Lady Bobcats to within one, 46 to 45, after two free throws by Eisenhauer. Charf scored the Wolfpack’s last two points on free throws with 17 seconds left, then the defense took over to seal the victory. For more, see this week’s Elgin Review.