BINGHAMTON – Bainbridge-Guilford, playing perhaps at its highest level all season, threw a hefty scare into defending Class C state champion Elmira Notre Dame Saturday evening at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena.

The Crusaders, who have not lost a game to a Class C team the past two seasons, needed a three-point play from Mallory Lawes and two free throws from Margie McKinery over the final 83 seconds to pull out a Section IV title win over the Bobcats.

“Our kids came out and played incredible; I’m just very disappointed for them,” said B-G coach Bob Conway. “We executed what we had practiced: We kept Lawes from scoring, and Marcie Day did a tremendous job on her. We also wanted to keep Agan (Kate) off the glass. We had some opportunities, the ball just didn’t bounce our way a couple times.”

Bainbridge Guilford (19-3), whose only two previous losses earlier this season came against Unatego, led most of the game, although END went on an 8-0 run to end the third quarter and grab a 41-39 advantage.

After trading leads most of the last quarter, B-G senior Jen Patten fed Nicole Conway for a layup to give her club its last lead, 50-49 with 2:25 to play. Throughout the contest, it was the career scoring night of junior Mariah Schaeffer that allowed the Bobcats to stay close or maintain the lead. Schaeffer hit a trio of three balls and finished with a career-high 26 points.