Staff photo / Dan Hiner Poland’s Lucy Harrell (45) attempts a runner during Thursday’s game against South Range in Poland.

POLAND — It’s not too often that a team can go nearly the entire first half without a field goal and win a varsity girls basketball game.

However, defense and free throws countered Poland’s lack of offense on Thursday, and the Bulldogs came away with a 39-33 win over South Range at Poland Field House.

“Both teams struggled to score at times, and we definitely started out rough, but the kids never stopped playing. I was very proud of ’em,” Poland head coach Nick Blanch said. “We got into some foul trouble with some of our key players and we had to adjust to that as well, but we did the best we could – attacking the rim, getting to the free-throw line.”

Neither team started strong. Both missed shots in the opening minutes, but South Range’s Heidi Bartels opened the scoring with a layup with 5:33 to play in the first quarter.

Scoring was still a struggle, however. Poland (8-4, 4-1 in Northeast 8) made three free throws, but South Range only led 7-3 at the end of the first.

Cassie Blanch took a charge with two minutes left in the half. It was her sixth of the season, setting the Poland girls basketball record for charges taken.

That play by Cassie Blanch provided some energy, and shortly after, Leanna Boccieri made a 3-pointer from the right corner for the Bulldogs’ first basket with 1:37 to play before the break. Her bucket made it a 13-11 game in favor of the Raiders, but the teams entered the locker rooms tied at 15.

“We talk about how selfless (taking a charge) is, when you know you’re just gonna get run over,” Nick Blanch said. “She did that, and that always ignites the bench and got the guys going even more after that.”

Poland’s momentum didn’t immediately carry over into the second half. The Raiders (7-4, 2-3 NE8) got a couple of early baskets early in the third, and the Bulldogs still had the invisible lid on the rim.

A 3-pointer by Poland’s Kate Harrell in the closing seconds cut the deficit to 27-22 just before the end of the third and brought a little more juice for the Bulldogs to start the fourth.

Poland’s press began to cause problems for the Raiders in the fourth. South Range committed a few turnovers in the first half of the quarter, and they allowed the Bulldogs to get back into it.

A pair of free throws by Poland’s Isabel Greco tied the game at 31 with 3:59 remaining. And a steal by Harrell led to a foul, sending Lucy Harrell to the line. She split the pair with 2:53 to play, giving the Bulldogs a 32-31 advantage, their first lead of the night.

“Hats off to Poland,” South Range head coach Jeff Fishel said. “They attacked the basket and took advantage of our foul trouble. They were short-handed tonight, they were in a little bit of foul trouble, so hats off to coach Blanch. They figured it out better than we did tonight.”

The Raiders got into foul trouble early in the fourth, and the Bulldogs capitalized by putting the game away at the free-throw line.

Poland only made eight shots in the game, but they used a 21-for-38 effort from the stripe to get points on the board.

South Range was led by the duo of Kiera Winner and Gwen Lowry, who each scored eight points. The trio of Ceci Foster, Taylor Dado and Bartels each scored four.

Boccieri led all scorers with 13 points. Kate Harrell had seven points, and Sophia Generalovich and Greco each scored six.

The Bulldogs got back into the win column after dropping a game to Struthers. The loss to the Wildcats snapped a six-game winning streak.

“Everybody was dogged out, so it was just a matter of who can step up and dig a little deeper than the other team, and we were able to do that,” Nick Blanch said.