Staff photo / Preston Byers Girard’s Caylee Wilkes puts up a shot during Monday’s win against Poland in Girard.

GIRARD — Northeast 8 Conference (NE8) implications surrounded Monday’s game between Girard and Poland, as both could secure at least a share of the league title with a win.

However, only one team could emerge victorious, and despite a slow start, the Indians became that one team. Girard successfully held on to its late lead to defeat the Bulldogs 54-51 and move one step closer to an outright conference championship.

“Two really good teams, two really good programs, well-coached,” Girard head coach Joe Bornemiss said. “It seems like we’ve been butting heads the last couple years. For three years now since I’ve been here, we’ve been playing them for the title.”

Poland, needing a win to finish 9-3 in the NE8 and prevent Girard from potentially reaching 10-2 later in the week, jumped out to an early lead Monday. The Bulldogs enjoyed an 11-8 advantage at the end of the first quarter, and with a strong start to the second, momentarily led by 10 points.

The Indians began to find their groove, though, as Ally Gassman scored five unanswered and sparked a 15-4 run that helped Girard completely erase its deficit by halftime. During the run, which resulted in a 23-23 tie going into the break, freshman Janaya Riley added five points of her own, and the Indians began to force turnovers and earn extra looks at the basket.

“When Izzy (Isabel Greco) went down, that changed a lot,” Poland head coach Nick Blanch said. “We’re not very tall as it is and Izzy is one of our better rebounders, so when she hit her head on the floor and had to come out, that was a big disadvantage for us. That was the big telltale for that — they got a lot more second and third opportunities — but obviously, the wellbeing of Izzy was more important than rushing her back out on the floor.”

Girard continued its extended run in the second half with seven straight points to start the third quarter before Poland responded and pulled the game back within a possession. The Indians finished almost as well as they began the period, however, outscoring the Bulldogs 9-3 over the final 2:15 to take a 42-34 lead into the fourth.

“I thought our rebounding was good. We preach that if we team-rebound, we have chances of getting out and making some plays,” Bornemiss said. “And I thought our seniors really stepped up tonight, from Jess Hansen guarding to Ally handling the ball to Brooke [Perry] blocking shots. I think they really stepped up to the moment.”

As it did multiple times Monday, Girard experienced great success off turnovers and in transition to start the final quarter. The Indians’ first three field goals of the period were fast-break baskets, pushing their lead to 12 within the first two minutes of the fourth.

Poland slowly clawed back into the game over the next four minutes, during which the ‘Dogs went on an 11-2 run and got within three points as the clock slipped under two minutes to go. Unfortunately three points proved to be as close as Poland could get, as an illegal screen with 1:29 remaining gave the ball back to Girard, which eventually went up by six with a pair of Gassman free throws. The Bulldogs, who missed several shots in the final few minutes, did get the game back to a single possession with a Brooklyn Kosco triple, but that came with about a second remaining, and, following a timeout, the Indians managed to run out the rest of the clock for a title-clinching win.

“That was a good basketball game,” Blanch said. “We played hard, we made mistakes, they made mistakes. We just made a few too many mistakes. But effort was never wavering, and that’s what I’m most proud of. The girls played hard until the end. This game hurts a little bit obviously, and it should.

“The NE8’s a good conference. It’s competitive, and any night, anybody can beat anybody. It’s been a battle every single night out there. There’s never been a walkthrough, so I’m proud of the kids being where we’re at at this point in the season.”

Gassman had a game-high 23 points for the Indians, who also got 16 and 11 points from Riley and Caylee Wilkes, respectively. Kosco and Briella Rowe each contributed 17 points for the Bulldogs.

With the loss, Poland (14-7) completed its NE8 slate with an 8-4 record and will finish either tied for second with Lakeview or alone in third place for the season. The Bulldogs’ regular season finale at Pymatuning Valley is set for Saturday.

Meanwhile, Girard (12-8, 9-2 NE8) has guaranteed at least a share of the conference title for a second straight season. The Indians can take the outright championship with either a loss by Lakeview in its NE8 finale at Hubbard next Monday or by winning on Thursday at South Range, which not only eliminated the Indians from the playoffs a year ago, but also handed Girard its worse loss of this season on Jan. 15 when the Raiders trounced the Indians 51-21.