MONMOUTH — Sometimes patience isn’t an obstacle but an opportunity.

Earlier in the year, the slowing down of the offense and trying to run a patient play might have felt like being shackled for the Monmouth  girls’ basketball team. The Mustangs thought holding on to the ball and looking for the right shot might have cramped their style.

Saturday, that wasn’t the case. The plan was to be patient and the Mustangs made it pay off.

“That’s the first time this year where we tried to be patient with the ball,” Monmouth coach Scott Wing said. “The kids didn’t take it as ‘We don’t score.’ Earlier in the year, they were thinking that I didn’t want them to shoot. That’s not the case. We wanted to be looking for that shot going to the basket. We finally got one of them there in the fourth quarter.”

Monmouth watched and waited for the opportunity to present itself. When Sidney Wilson converted a backdoor pass from Tia Day late in the fourth quarter, the Mustangs opened the lead for good in a 37-32 win over Oak Hill.

“That was a huge goal of ours,” Wilson said. “We knew Oak Hill likes to get going crazy and likes to get the turnovers. We were trying to stay calm and kind of run things through and get our good looks.”

That pass from Day to Wilson gave Monmouth a 33-30 lead with 1:22 left in the game. It was Monmouth’s only field goal of the quarter after an 0-for-8 start.

After a Day steal, Abbey Allen sank a free throw to make it 34-30. The Raiders got a basket by Brianna Mulherin with 52 seconds left to get within 34-32, but the Mustangs ran the clock down and drew fouls. Day sank a pair from the line and Caroline Bonenfant added another to seal it.

“We’re just not playing well right now,” said Oak Hill coach Charlie Castonguay, whose team has now lost three straight. “I can’t put my finger on it. I don’t know exactly why. We’re just not playing up to our level.”

Wilson led the Mustangs (10-4)  with 20 points, including four 3’s. She had 10 in the second half and had a number of key shots for Monmouth. Day added 12, including five free throws from the foul line in the fourth quarter.

“That was a pretty huge win for us,” said Wing, whose team was ranked seventh in Western C. Oak Hill was fifth in Western B.

The Raiders (10-4)  got eight from Mulherin and seven from Grace Sabine. Kayla Veilleux added six. Oak Hill played right into Monmouth’s kind of tempo and halfcourt style. The Raiders just couldn’t get their fast-paced, up-tempo game in gear.

“We’re dealing with injuries and illness,” Castonguay said. “We have a lot going on. We’re not even close to being as deep as we were.”

Monmouth kept pace with the Raiders in the first half. That set up a strong performance in the second half to earn the win.

“Oak Hill has a lot of kids sick and we have a lot of kids sick,” Wing said. “I think it was hard for everyone to get their feet moving in that first half. Once we made it a half game, the kids saw they could play for 16 minutes with some intensity. That really helped.”

Oak Hill had an 8-5 lead in the first on baskets by Mulherin and Jamie Prue, but a pair of free throws by Wilson trimmed the Raiders lead to 8-7 after one. Wilson, who has played three straight games without a moments rest, had all eight points for Monmouth in the second. She had a pair of 3’s and then hit a jumper in the final minute to tie the game at the half, 15-15.

“It was really exciting to come out (in the second half) because we knew if we kept pushing hard, we could do it,” Wilson said.

Monmouth had the lead up to as many as six in the third.  The Mustangs hit four of its first five shots. Wilson hit a pair of 3’s and had another eight points. It was her turn-around shot with 16 seconds left that finished a 10-2 run that made it 27-21. Oak Hill got a rebound by Veilleux in the final seconds to trim the lead to 27-23 after three.

In the fourth, after a rebound by Veilleux and a drive by Danielle Samson tied it 27-27, Bonenfant and Day each sank free throws to make it 29-27.

With 6:11 left, controversy followed a Day free throw. Oak Hill contested a foul call, saying it should have been attributed to Sara Noel and not Mulherin. The officials had reported the wrong number to the official scorer. Castonguay shouted for the horn to get the officials attention. When the horn blew, Day already had the ball and had put up her shot. She made the basket but the official waved it off, much to Monmouth’s displeasure.

Fortunately, for the Mustangs, that lost free throw ultimately didn’t matter. With 4:55 left, Day sank a pair to make it 31-27. Oak Hill answered with two Mulherin free throws. Then with 2:28 left, Sadie Goulet hit a foul shot to get the Raiders within 31-30.

That’s when Day found Wilson on the backdoor pass for the Mustang’s lone field goal of the fourth quarter. From there, Wilson, Bonenfant and Day did a nice job running down the clock in the final minutes.

“Coach (Ray) Convery kept talking about the ‘Heart of a Warrior’ and whoever digs down deepest,” Wilson said. “I think that really spoke to us.”

In addition to picking up the defensive intensity, the Mustang made plays down the stretch when it mattered. Monmouth made eight free throws in the fourth and were 12-for-17 in the game. The Mustangs also forced five Oak Hill turnovers in the final quarter.

“Tia stepped up with some big steals,” Wing said. “Haley West stepped up with some big steals and some tough defensive plays. That was huge.”

kmills@sunjournal.com