ROCHELLE — The energy inside Rochelle Township High School began to build as the Lady Hubs varsity basketball team battled its way back into Tuesday night’s conference game against the Sterling Golden Warriors.

Rochelle trailed 47-39 after three quarters, but the Lady Hubs dug deep and tied the game 55-55 with roughly one minute to play after senior Morgan Baker drilled a 3-pointer from the left corner for three of her 19 points on the night. Rochelle added a 2-point basket after Sterling made one free throw on the other end to jump ahead 57-56 with just seconds to go.

However, the Golden Warriors found the hoop on their final offensive possession of the game, making a layup to take the lead and holding off the Lady Hubs on their last scoring chance to defeat Rochelle by a final score of 58-57. The Lady Hubs fall to 8-12 on the season, and they will host LaSalle-Peru on Thursday.

“We were down for most of the game and we were just trying to chip away,” head coach Tony Rowan said. “They didn’t quit… We just need to understand that each possession matters and we need to make sure we continue communicating with each other on the court. I think we did a great job fighting all the way through.”

Sterling topped Rochelle at Dixon’s KSB Holiday Classic earlier this season, and the Golden Warriors looked to be in control during Tuesday’s game. Gretchen and Grace Gould combined to do most of the damage for Sterling, as the girls teamed up to score 30 points while Josi Borum added 11 points.

The Golden Warriors led Rochelle 17-15 after the first quarter, and they increased their advantage to 33-27 at halftime.

“They did a great job of making us turn over the basketball in the first half,” Rowan said. “Turnovers were an issue for us and we couldn’t find much rhythm. We were able to catch more rhythm in the second half.”

Rochelle junior Abby Lundquist began Tuesday’s game with three 3-point shots in the first quarter, and after remaining relatively quiet in the second and third quarters, Lundquist came alive when her team needed her the most. The junior scored from both inside and outside in the final quarter to run her total up to 24 points, which led all Rochelle players.

Lundquist also surpassed 1,000 total points for her career on Tuesday, adding another milestone to her high school resume after she jumped her mother, Rochelle Township High School Hall of Famer Tracy Ohlinger Lundquist, earlier this school year.

“I’m extremely proud of her,” Rowan said. “I’m happy Abby was able to eclipse that mark in her junior year, and she puts in so many hours of work that nobody sees. I’m glad this can vindicate a lot of the shots she’s putting up at 6:30 in the morning when no one is watching.”

The Lady Hubs will look to snap a two-game losing streak when they face LaSalle-Peru on Thursday. Rochelle defeated the Lady Cavs earlier this season, and the girls will look to learn from Tuesday’s exciting finish in hopes of locking down another win.

“We just need to use this as fuel,” Rowan said. “We need to focus on the good and forget about the bad. We’re going to talk about our last few possessions at practice and we’re going to grow from them.”

Rochelle lost to Sycamore 60-38 this past weekend, which dropped the team’s record to 8-11 prior to Tuesday’s game against Sterling. Lundquist led the Lady Hubs with 21 points against the Lady Spartans.