In a night battle of league leaders, the Bonney Lake High girls went into overtime to defeat visiting White River 57-53 on Feb. 4.

The Panther victory tightened the South Puget Sound League 3A standings, as the league-leading Hornets slipped to 12-1 while Bonney Lake improved to 12-3.

Tuesday, White River faces the third-place, 10-4 Sumner Spartans while Bonney Lake takes the night off. The league season wraps up Feb. 12 with the traditional league pairings, meaning Bonney Lake battles Sumner and White River faces Enumclaw.

Thursday’s showdown in the Bonney Lake gymnasium found the Panthers and Hornets tied at 47 following 32 minutes of regulation play.

White River took the initial lead in overtime, thanks to a pair of Carley McCutchen free throws, but Bonney Lake more than compensated. Marcel Pounds scored a bucket and added two points from the free-throw line and Cheyanne Clark hit a runner to give the Panthers a 53-49 advantage with 1 minute, 48 seconds to play.

Megan McKune hit a turnaround jumper near the hoop and Kelsi Tyler dropped in two clutch free throws, tying the contest at 53 with 32 seconds remaining. The rest of the game saw White River commit two turnovers while Pounds hit four of six free throw opportunities.

Pounds, the SPSL 3A’s leading scorer at almost 22 points per game, scored 24, with all her points coming in the second half. She was the deciding factor late in the contest, scoring 11 points in the fourth quarter and eight more during the four-minute overtime period.

The game’s initial 16 minutes isn’t going to wind up on either team’s highlight reel. Bundles of turnovers resulted in each squad scoring five points in the second quarter, allowing the Panthers to take a 21-17 lead in the locker room at halftime.