With a rally in the fourth quarter, the Bishop Stang girls basketball team secured its place in the postseason with a win against Dartmouth on February 17.

During the matchup, the Indians held a lead throughout the game, as wide as 10 points early in the fourth quarter. But Bishop Stang (10-9) chipped away at that lead late into the fourth quarter, tying it up with a two-pointer with 2:00 left on the clock, followed up with sunk free throw to give Bishop Stang its first lead of the night.

The Indians – whose last score of the night came with 5:58 remaining – were unable to put another point on the board, and Bishop Stang finished off with two free throws to secure its 47-44 win.

Bishop Stang head coach Eric Levie said his young team – comprised mostly of underclassmen and only two seniors – has been steadily improving over the season, peaking over the past three weeks amid a challenging schedule of tough teams.

”When you’re playing teams like Feehan, Coyle and Vineyard, you have to be resilient, you have to dig down and keep working hard because you’re playing against good competition – and Dartmouth is another good team,” Levie said. “We are playing some of our best basketball over the last three weeks or so.”

In the locker room and on the sidelines, Levie challenged the Spartans to up its defense and concentrate on picking up quality shots, as opposed to rushing things offensively, a strategy that shined with the team’s rally.

The Spartans are no stranger to playoff action. Last season, Bishop Stang advanced as far as the first round of the South Div. 3 playoffs, but was knocked out of the running for a state title by Fontbonne.

Dartmouth head coach Scott Richards said things were going well for the Indians early on, with a strong defensive push keeping the game low-scoring, until a scoring drought in the fourth quarter.

”We played well for four quarters but we shot the ball well for three quarters,” Richards said. “We scored three points in the fourth quarter. We’re not going to win many games doing that.”

For Dartmouth (8-11), the loss left the team with limited options for a playoff run. Combined with a loss against Abington on February 20, the Indians must now win its final game of the regular season against Marlborough on Wednesday in order to secure a slot in the playoffs.