TURNER — Poland fought its way almost all the way back in the fourth quarter, but Leavitt held on to earn a 44-41 girls basketball victory at Leavitt Area High School on Thursday.

“At the end of the game, we pulled ourselves together and pulled out the win,” Hornets sophomore Jordyn Boulay said.

The Knights trailed by as many as 18 points in the second half, but chipped away at the deficit the rest of the game until they were within three points in the final minute of the game.

They had a chance to tie after forcing a turnover on their offensive end with 8.8 seconds left, but Leavitt’s Gabrielle Smith tipped a pass, then teammate Kaitlyn Sirois corralled the loose ball and while sitting on the floor fired a pass to Caitlyn McCoy, who dribbled out the remainder of the clock.

“It was kind of a tough one to grit out, but we had that grit to kind of get it done,” Hornets coach Kyle Rines said.

The victory improves Leavitt to 3-1, while Poland dropped another close game to fall to 1-3.

For a rebuilding program coming off an 0-18 season, the close losses and efforts like Thursday’s are reasons for optimism.

“These girls have come together and they played really hard,” Knights coach Jake Webb said. “I feel really good about where we’re at — most coaches wouldn’t say that at 1-3, but I’ll say that.

“It’s a big step for this program. A year ago, they would have folded down 16. This year, they didn’t. They stepped up.”

McCoy led all scorers with 16 points. Smith added 13 and Boulay had 11 for the Hornets.

Freshman Charlotte Grenier came off the bench to lead Poland with 10 points. Breanna Bartlett scored nine and Althea Thornton had seven.

“I’ll tell you, Charlotte Grenier had a fantastic game for us,” Webb said.

The Hornets built the majority of their lead at the beginning of the first three quarters when they scored chunks of points while holding the Knights scoreless or limiting them to a basket or two. Each time, Poland battled back to erase a portion of its deficit.

“We kind of kept digging a hole and trying to get out of it,” Webb said.

Neither team made a two-point field goal in the opening period, and all of the points came from beyond the 3-point arc.

Two 3-pointers by Boulay and one by Smith boosted Leavitt to a 9-0 lead while Poland went scoreless for more than five minutes to start the game.

Boulay hit one more trey in the first period. Rines said it’s the second consecutive game that the sophomore has drained three 3s in the opening quarter.

“Jordyn, I’ve seen it because I’ve been friends with her for a little bit, but I’ve seen her coming, having this breakthrough season. I think she’s having it now,” McCoy, a junior, said. “And definitely, she’s a key player for us right now. She’s saving us in ways no one else could, and I think it’s just really good to have her.”

Grenier and Thornton each made a 3 for Poland, and Leavitt took a 12-6 lead into the second quarter.

McCoy scored Leavitt’s first eight points of the second, starting with a 3, then the game’s first two-point field goal with 6:06 left in the quarter. She later added another trey.

Poland’s first non-3 point field goal was a free throw by Nicole Rioux with 5:20 remaining in the second quarter. Bartlett added another 3 and made a pair of free throws, and Thornton added Poland’s only two-pointers of the opening half. Leavitt’s lead reached 12 points in the second, but by halftime the Knights had cut it to 24-16.

The Hornets again created separation early in the third quarter when McCoy and Smith teamed up for a 7-0 run that made it 31-16.

Poland suffered a blow when Thornton fouled out with 4:32 remaining in the third.

“I’m proud of my girls because our best player basically was out of the game three minutes into the third quarter,” Webb said. “A year ago, they would have kind of folded, and this year they just dug back in and played hard.”

The Knights also played the entire game without injured senior Gretchyn Paradis.

Leavitt’s cushion grew to 36-18 with about three minutes left in the third. That was the largest lead of the game. It’s also when the Knights started battling back. They scored eight of the final 10 points of the quarter and went into the fourth down 38-26.

Neither team scored in the fourth until Rioux scored on a putback with 5:45 remaining in the game.

Rioux, who was a force on the boards all game, scored four points in the final period.

“She’s been working real hard the last two years, getting better and better,” Webb said. “She must have had 15 rebounds tonight. I think she was fantastic for us. She really is the best rebounder we have, and she just works, works, works. It’s all effort with her.”

Leavitt’s senior post, Kayla Smith, fouled out with five minutes remaining.

“When Kayla Smith fouls out — she facilitates so much for us; and rebounding; and experience, being a senior — that was hard,” Rines said.

McCoy made a nifty layup while falling down to make it 42-31 with about 3:40 remaining.

“I don’t even remember it, honestly,” McCoy said. “I remember falling to the floor and seeing it go in, and I just looked back and I was like, ‘Yup.’

“But I don’t know how I got it in, honestly. I was so surprised when I got it to go in. I was just, I was mad and … when I’m mad, my thing is I score. So I just ran and chucked it.”

Boulay said that those are the types of moments the Hornets expect from McCoy.

“She’s an amazing player,” Boulay said. “I mean, we can always look for her to build us up and do the right things when we need her to.”

A 3-pointer by Bartlett and buckets by Grenier and Rioux got Poland within four points, 42-38.

While the Knights were scoring, Leavitt was struggling against Poland’s pressure defense.

“They just completely found momentum with their, you know, diamond press. And we didn’t adjust well,” Rines said. “And that’s what well-coached teams do: they get momentum and then the girls feel confident.”

McCoy set up Brooke Boutaugh for a basket that gave the Hornets some breathing room, but Grenier took it away with a trey to make it 43-41 with less than a minute remaining.

The teams swapped turnovers until the Knights’ inbound pass with 8.8 seconds left.

A 3-pointer would have tied the game, so the Hornets were aggressively trying to prevent a 3. It paid off when Gabrielle Smith knocked down the pass and Sirios got the ball.

“We won, that’s the most important stat of the day,” Rines said. “But I thought the young Poland Knights looked pretty tough.”

Poland is off until next Friday, Dec. 29, when it travels to face Sacopee Valley (1-2).

The Hornets, who have won three straight, play at Lake Region (2-2) on Saturday and then host defending Class B South champion Spruce Mountain (2-0) next Thursday as part of a girls and boys doubleheader.

The girls game will be a matchup of good friends: Spruce Mountain coach Zach Keene was the best man at Rines’ wedding.

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