MILO – The Penquis girls basketball team has had some trouble this year winning close games. In fact, several of the Patriots’ losses have come despite fourth-quarter leads.

Penquis nearly let Monday night’s Eastern Maine Class C matchup against Mattanawcook Academy get away from them, too. But good defense and clutch baskets in a fourth-quarter run meant the Patriots wouldn’t lose this one. They held off the Lynx of Lincoln 45-38 at the high school gym here.

The win will likely have a good mental payoff for Penquis, which goes to 3-5.

“We needed that,” coach Brent Bailey said. “We’ve had three close games where we’ve lost by [a total of 16 points] and we’ve led in the fourth quarter. Just getting into that situation in practice has helped us get more comfortable. We’re not perfect, but we’re much better than we were.”

It was Mattanawcook (2-6), however, which had the momentum going into the fourth quarter as the Lynx erased an eight-point Penquis lead in the final 1:30 of the third. Jaide Littlefield (10 points) scored off a turnover with less than four seconds left to cut it to a two-point deficit.

After a series of MA fouls the Patriots stayed patient on offense, something that has been lacking a bit this season, according to Bailey. Farrar Cobb hit a mid-range jumper off an inbounds pass from Shannon Gerrish. Becca Madden grabbed a defensive rebound and got the ball to Kate Hamlin for a fast-break layup. After a missed Mattanawcook free throw, Hamlin banked in a jump shot off a Gerrish pass for a 38-30 edge.

“We set more screens up and that opened us up a lot better,” Morrill said. “We were more patient, I guess.”

The Lynx caught up a bit thanks to an Ali Keegan fast-break basket and two MA free throws, but Cobb made a baseline jumper and Morrill drained the only 3-pointer of the game, which came off a kick-out from Gerrish. The long-distance hoop gave the Patriots a 43-34 lead with 2:02 left in the game.

“That sealed the deal right there,” said Hamlin, who scored 12 points.

Mattanawcook missed some late chances at the free-throw line that would have made it closer. The Lynx were 3-for-12 from the line in the fourth quarter.

Different defensive looks, including a full-court press, 2-3 zone defense and box-and-1, helped Penquis keep Mattanawcook from getting too much inside, and also kept control of Quinci Sanderson, who is one of the Lynx’ top shooters. Morrill guarded Sanderson (10 points) in the box-and-1.

“Every game we’ve ever played our defense has kept us in it,” Hamlin said.

Morrill actually started out on Keegan, but the 5-foot-10 center had some trouble finishing on offense and was held to two points. She did have 16 rebounds, 10 of which were offensive boards.

“We just didn’t get the touches into Ali,” Mattanawcook coach Terri Thornton said. “She didn’t even really get near the basket tonight, and we’ve got to have Ali in the game. She did some things she doesn’t normally do.”

Madden responded on the other end for the Patriots. The 5-10 center had 15 rebounds and five blocks but had a quiet night with eight points due to good defense from 6-foot Hannah Reed. Cobb had a game-high 14 points, including six in the fourth quarter.

Both teams played a sloppy first half with a combined 28 turnovers. MA tied it up early in the third as Penquis came out in man-to-man defense and had trouble matching up with the Lynx.

PATRIOTS 45, LYNX 39

Mattanawcook (3-6) Penquis (3-5)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Pietras 0 3 0 4 0 Hamlin 6 16 12

Cousineau 0 1 0 0 0 Graves 0 1 0

Ja.Littlefield 4 7 2 4 10 Morrill 2 5

Gulesian 0 0 0 0 0 S.Gerrish 1 2

Malone 1 3 0 0 2 Madden 3 8 8

Reed 1 1 0 0 2 Comeau 1 1 0 2

Sanderson 5 7 0 0 10 Cobb 7 11 14

Vose 3 7 2 5 8 M.Dolley 0 1 2

Keegan 1 10 5 11 7

Totals 15 39 9 24 39 20 43 45

Mattanawcook 4 16 30 39

Penquis 8 20 32 45

3-pt. goals ? Mattanawcook (0-1): Vose 0-1; Penquis (1-5): Morrill 1-2, Hamlin 0-1, Cobb 0-1, M. Dolley 0-1

Attendance: 200 (est.)

JV: Mattanawcook 55-26