NORTH ATTLEBORO -- For a brief while in Monday afternoon's meeting of traditional rivals, North Attleboro High School girls' basketball coach John DelBonis feared that his team, was reliving a horrible nightmare from just a few days ago.

Leading Attleboro by a 41-21 score just shortly after halftime, the Rocketeers watched in horror as the tournament-bound Bombardiers ran off the next 17 points to trail by just three points with 11:39 to go.

The number 17 carried added significance, in that that was North Attleboro's lead (17-0) at the start of Friday night's game at home against Foxboro, a game the Rocketeers ended up losing by a five-point margin. But this time, they weathered the storm and emerged the stronger for it, victors by a 68-62 score.

"It was, 'here we go again,'" DelBonis said. "Those type of things have been happening to us and we haven't been able to recover, and today we did. It's a nice thing for the kids and they should gain some confidence from it."

With junior Nicole Matte scoring 15 of her game-high 19 points in the first half, the 7-12 Rocketeers broke open a close game with a 13-2 run and was looking at a 38-21 lead at the break. Then, Katie Andrews sank one of North Attleboro's eight three-pointers to create a 20-point lead. But suddenly, the Bombardiers came roaring back with a vengeance.

With guards Jenna Costa and Kiara Gravel picking up the pace both offensively and defensively in full-court pressure, Lauren Beland throwing in a pair of quick three-pointers and Tara Cavalieri working her way into the paint for baskets and free-throw opportunities, Attleboro took 15 points off the North lead in just a minute and a half by hitting all five of their field goal attempts (including two threes) and all three free throws.

Even after DelBonis took his second timeout of the half at the 13:21 mark, Gravel scored on a putback with 11:39 left to continue the run.

"It makes you wonder where that was in the first half," Attleboro coach Mike Riley said of his team's furious comeback. "North did a great job in the first half against our zone, getting inside, and then they did a great job against our man (-to-man). The second half, we came out with a little spark there and put some pressure on them. We started to play smart basketball and ran our offense."

It took a three-point basket by Robin Armstrong to break the Attleboro run with 11:29 left. Gravel added two more baskets, including a three-pointer, sandwiched around a lay-in by North's Katie Noll. But with 10:11 left, Matte converted a traditional three-point play off a feed by Noll to pump the lead back up to six points.

Then, after Kelci Keene scored on a putback, Armstrong and Nicole Meyer hit back-to-back three-pointers for a 10-point lead (55-45) with 7:55 left.

From that point on, each Attleboro surge was met with an equal North Attleboro response. Caitlin Montella hit a pair of treys including one with 2:09 left to pull Attleboro back within five points (62-57), but Meyer, a sophomore guard, made five free throws over the next minute and a half, including one with 21.2 seconds left that stopped a mini-run by the Bombardiers that consisted of a three-pointer by Costa and a lay-in by Gravel to trail 65-62.

"We've had the lead in eight games that we've lost in the second half, so we haven't been able to finish things," DelBonis said. "They came out smoking in the second half, but Meyer and (Amanda) Beaupre solidified things for us in the backcourt and Armstrong hit a couple of big shots."

Matte had an outstanding all-around game for North, backing up her game-high scoring with a game-high 14 rebounds (including eight offensive rebounds and two putback baskets). Meyer equaled her season-high total with 14 points, Lauren Sexton had 10 points and six rebounds, Ashley Kepaa added eight rebounds to North's 50-36 edge off the glass and Beaupre dished out six assists. North also hit a dazzling 50 percent (8-16) of its three-point attempts.

For Attleboro, which shot 42.1 percent from the field in the second half (16-38), Cavalieri and Gravel each pumped in 13 points and Alexandra Kelley added 10 points and seven rebounds. Costa, meanwhile, ran the show nicely with a game-high seven assists. The Rocketeers conclude their season 2 p.m. Wednesday against Bishop Feehan, while Attleboro, also 7-12 but having earned a berth in the MIAA Division 1-South playoffs by finishing second in the Old Colony League, ends the regular season at Brockton Friday night.