WALES – From the first minute to the very last, the Oak Hill girls’ basketball team had the lead Tuesday night.

And the Raiders spent every single minute in between trying to defend it.

No lead seemed safe for Oak Hill as Lincoln Academy rallied countless times, but the Raiders persevered for a 60-54 win.

“It was definitely a challenging game, but I feel like we kept our heads and played with a lot of heart and intensity,” said sophomore forward Maggie Sabine. “We knew this was going to be a tough game. We’re really happy about this win, but we’re just taking it game to game.”

The Raiders (7-5) were ranked eighth in the latest Western B standings while Lincoln (6-5) was seeded sixth.

“This is a wonderful example of people stepping up and just playing,” said Oak Hill coach Dan Sabine. “I’ve waited so long for them to play like this. We played the same at MCI, but we just didn’t come out on top.”

The Raiders were playing a bit shorthand. Senior guard Ambyr Provost is out after suffering a concussion. That meant sophomore guard Abby Goulet was making her varsity start. Oak Hill also got a fine outing from freshman guard Darcy Beaulieu. Both made critical plays down the stretch to help squelch the Eagles comeback hopes.

“I think the key was that we really kept our heads,” said Dan Sabine. “That was a freshman point guard we had out there, and she did an outstanding job running the point. We had some upperclassmen who had to sit and swallow that, but they’ve been very good about it. As a team, we’re very united.”

Maggie Sabine led the Raiders with 30 points while Alex Donald, who transferred from Lincoln, added 15. Lincoln got 18 from Steph Winchenbach and 14 from Kari Jones.

The Raiders had a nine-point leads in the first and second quarter. The advantage was as many as 11 in the third. Every time the Raiders got their running game going and were able to extend the lead, the Eagles battled their way back. In the fourth quarter, the Raiders were up by seven points six different times, but Lincoln Academy rallied.

“When they started coming back, we did what we had to do,” said Dan Sabine. “Whether it was break the press, hit the little shots or hit the foul shots, the team just played great.”

With 1:58 left, Marni Jones hit a 3-pointer, one of seven the Eagles hit in the game. That got Lincoln within 51-47. After Beaulieu hit a free throw to make it 52-47 with 1:56 left, Winchenbach scored in the paint to get within three. Donald quickly turned that back into a seven-point advantage with back-to-back hoops. She scored off a Goulet pass and then hit two free throws after getting fouled on a Lincoln turnover. That made it 56-49 with 1:09 left.

“Alex played an outstanding game,” said Dan Sabine. “She took a beating, and she did very well.”

The Eagles still weren’t done. Winchenbach hit a short jumper with 40 seconds left. After Goulet hit a free throw, Kari Jones drilled a 3-pointer with 18 seconds left to make it 57-54. That was as close as Lincoln would get. Oak Hill finished the game off with free throws by Sabine and Beaulieu.

In the fourth, Oak Hill got scoring from Goulet, Donald, Sabine and Beaulieu to keep the Eagles at bay.

“That’s the good thing about our team,” said Maggie Sabine. “We’re so deep, and we can really use all our players.”