With just over three minutes remaining in Saturday’s game, the Potter-Dix girls were clinging to a one point lead--and South Platte seemed to have momentum on their side.

Moments before, the Coyotes lost control of the ball on a wild pass. South Platte’s Adalida Dickmander worked her way open near the baseline and sank a jumper, closing the score to 25-24 in favor of the visitors.

“It was a little nerve wracking,” said Conner Wolff of the game’s tense waning moments.

But the junior power forward rallied her team on the Coyotes next possession, slashing into the lane, taking a feed from Tiffany LaBeau and flipping it off the glass. She then fought for a defensive rebound on the other end. And the complexion of the tightly fought contest suddenly changed.

With 2:15 on the clock, Bailey Long drifted into a vacant spot along the baseline and drained a long two pointer. Potter-Dix led 29-26.

They would never again be challenged--at least closely--winning 30-26.

“Bailey got us a five point lead,” said head coach Jeff Einspahr. “It was a big shot.”

The junior had seen limited playing time during the game and came into the final minutes on fresh legs, but with some time between her last warm up toss and her game securing shot.

“I was just hoping I was going to make it,” she said of the moment. “It was pretty big for us.”

The 5-2, 14th ranked Coyotes entered the contest with a little uncertainty. Wolff, for one, was very ill and gutting it out on toughness alone. They made several mistakes early on and were cold from the floor.

At the end of one, the visitors had fought back for a narrow 6-5 lead. As the second quarter came to an end, the Knights countered, as a Kallan Cole shot and bonus turned things in South Platte’s favor, 16-14.

When play resumed it turned into a kind of sparring match, with neither side gaining an advantage. The Knights Kailin McClung made Potter-Dix pay for a defensive breakdown, stretching the lead to18-14. But the Coyotes stormed back behind the shooting of Wolff, LaBeau and Amanda Maas. By the start of the final period, things were even again.

“We couldn’t quite pull away,” Einspahr noted. “South Platte is a scrappy team.”

Throughout the fourth quarter the Knights tried to push the tempo and create lanes in Potter-Dix’s defense. The Coyotes countered with set plays and careful work around the perimeter.

The defenses clamped down. Neither team could set the pace until Wolff and Long combined to ensure the win.

“We’ll take it,” Einspahr said. “But we’d like to see a 20 point win one day.”