Palmer Ridge girls basketball coach Jason Boyer said it best. Tuesday night wasn’t a game but a street fight. 

The host Bears took a four-point lead into the fourth quarter against a talented Air Academy team that refused to quit and played tight defense to end the third. Palmer Ridge senior Bella O’Donnell set the tone early in the fourth, driving to the basket for the team’s first score. Sophomore Lilli Hawkins followed suit, making key drives to secure a 54-43 victory over the Kadets. 

“We had nothing to lose because it was the end of the game, everyone’s tired, and it just takes grit to get those extra buckets and see the court and see where their weak points are,” Hawkins said. 

“If you want to be a great team, you have to be able to counter these punches and luckily tonight we did,” Boyer said. 

The Bears (13-3) handed the Kadets (14-2) just their second loss of the season. It didn’t look like that would be the case during the first quarter. 

The Bears were held to just three points in the opening frame. 

Air Academy jumped out to an 8-2 lead thanks to senior leading scorer Kinley Asp, who scored the team’s first six points and found sophomore Olivia Andress for a transition bucket. Air Academy was thorough on defense, forcing turnovers. In moments where Palmer Ridge did earn looks underneath the basket, it missed. 

“The thing was we had some wide-open layups that we just missed. It was just we weren’t finishing,” Boyer said. “So the thing was, they’re eventually going to fall, we just need to make sure we’re playing defense and doing what we’re supposed to be doing.”

The Bears coach said the contest was a big, emotional one for his players. Despite the stakes of a home game against a league opponent and the early adversity of a sluggish start, Palmer Ridge responded in the second quarter. 

Bears senior Reese Mayer hit a 3-pointer and sophomore Madison Curtis connected from deep to change the score from 10-3 to 10-9 in a hurry. The Bears clamped down on Palmer Ridge on defense and senior Annaliese Bossinger gave the hosts their first lead off a turnover. The Bears didn’t look back. 

Palmer Ridge went on a 8-2 run to begin a 20-point second quarter. 

Despite the momentum Palmer Ridge built, Air Academy remained resilient and kept the Bears within striking distance for the three quarters. 

Asp, a two-time state champion who is committed to play at Boston College next season, finished with a game-high 20 points including a blistering eight-point third quarter where she hit two 3-pointers. Her heroics weren’t enough to overcome the Bears. 

Palmer Ridge and Air Academy are opposites in a way. Whereas the Kadets have Asp who is a clear superstar, the Bears’ scoring is a bit more spread out. 

Curtis finished with a team-high 15 points, Hawkins added seven, all in the fourth quarter, and sophomore Olivia Delich scored 12.

“We have such a good culture and we have a good coach. He makes us all work together and if we can do it for each other, there’s no game we can’t win,” Hawkins said. “I think that it’s very important to have every girl on the court wanting it as bad as each other and I think it helps us win games.”