LAKEVILLE — The Apponequet Regional High School Lakers girls’ basketball team led for most of the game, but a fourth-quarter comeback from the visiting Dartmouth High School Indians saw the hosts lose a hard-fought effort, 42-33.

The Lakers prioritized slowing down the pace of play early in the Jan. 31 game because of Dartmouth’s penchant for high-pressure defense and fast-paced offense.

“We wanted to slow them down,” Apponequet Head Coach Trevor Gagnier said. “We knew they wanted to play fast-paced, and I don’t think we were ready for that tonight.”

Apponequet sophomore guard Addison Taylor set the pace for the hosts early. She scored eight of her team-high 17 points in the first quarter.

“She played really well,” Gagnier said. “She got our confidence going and made some tough baskets early, which we knew we needed.”

Junior guard Ava Dixon of Apponequet supplemented Taylor’s scoring with 11 points. She made a game-high three three-point shots for nine of her points.

It took until the fourth quarter for Dartmouth to get into gear against Apponequet, but once they did, they proved hard to stop.

Dartmouth entered the final period of play down 11 points, but they pulled out the win thanks to outscoring Apponequet 22-2 in the fourth quarter.

“Our defensive energy was awesome,” Dartmouth Head Coach Brian Jalbert said. “Creating turnovers helped us score.”

Dartmouth sophomore guard Katherine Cheesebro led all scorers with 21 points. She took over in the fourth quarter as she scored eleven consecutive, unanswered points to lead the comeback and seal the win.

Cheesebro’s late-game heroics were capped off with a jump shot she made while being fouled. She made the ensuing foul shot to put her team up by four points with three-and-a-half minutes remaining.

“I thought we handled her well in the first half, but the second half, it was too much Cheesebro,” Gagnier said. “She was tough.”

Freshman guard Kaelyn Zuber sparked the Dartmouth comeback with two layups early in the fourth quarter before Cheesebro went off for eleven straight. A late three-pointer from sophomore guard Remy Barber and two late foul shots from senior forward and team captain Abbie Zuber put the contest out of reach.

Once the Indians started to force turnovers and run up and down the court, both coaches knew they would be hard to stop.

“Getting those turnovers didn’t allow them to set up in their defense,” Jalbert said. “Our defense at the end, and it’s my fault for not switching to it earlier, our girls did such a great job when we switched to it.”

The teams entered the game with similar win-loss records: Apponequet is 8-8 after the loss, while Dartmouth moves to 8-5 on the season after the win.

Apponequet’s next game is at home on Friday, Feb. 3 against Somerset Berkley Regional High School.