The Warriors, now 9-10, must beat the visiting Clippers (14-6), a surprise 40-32 loser to Medway in Tuesday's first-round game, in order to gain a berth in the MIAA Division 2-South Tournament.

For sure, the Warriors can take heart in the fact that they narrowed the deficit considerably from their first meeting with the Marauders, a 61-50 loss in the championship game of Dedham's holiday-season tournament back in December. Tuesday night, Foxboro trailed the 15-4 Marauders by just a point, 40-39, before senior Kate Kelly hit a short jumper with 2:14 left to start a 7-0 run.

"We didn't play that well in the last four or five minutes," said Foxboro coach Sarah Behn, frustrated by a litany of turnovers and forced shots down the stretch. "Still, we played well in general. We just couldn't get to the line."

True to Behn's words, the Warriors didn't get to the free-throw line until there were 4.8 seconds remaining in the game, when Michelle Cameron was fouled in the process of throwing up a desperation three-point attempt. She hit all three free throws.

Prior to that, both teams engaged all game long in a highly spirited and physical style of play, yet Foxboro was looking at the short end of a 19-12 count in personal fouls at the end, and Dedham was able to go to the foul line 21 times, sinking 13 attempts. "I don't know how you can play that physically in a game and not get to the foul line," Behn said.

An eight-point run in the early going, including three-pointers by Mari Roma and Tara Greeley, put Foxboro up 12-4 after five minutes. It took the entire opening half before Dedham could pull even, as two straight putback baskets by Jill Moses created a 22-22 tie with 44 seconds to go.

Foxboro reclaimed the lead (24-22) on a drive to the basket by 6-foot sophomore Samantha Briggs, seeing her first action after missing eight games because of a concussion.

Dedham went in front 28-24 after the break on a 6-0 run as Kelly scored twice and set up Andrea Vogt under the basket. But Foxboro ran off the next eight points, including two straight lay-ins by sophomore forward Rehema Strouble, for a 32-28 lead with 10:29 left.

Over the next five minutes, the teams battled through four lead changes and two ties. Foxboro led for the last time on Greeley's three-pointer off one of freshman Kristen Hoffman's six assists, 37-36 with 5:55 left. But Dedham's Nicole Savi found the baseline undefended and took a drive to the hole, followed quickly by a putback by Allie Treanor for a 40-37 lead.

Strouble countered with a bunny off Greeley's feed, but Kelly's answering basket with 2:14 to go started the Marauders' game-winning run. Kelly finished with 19 points and seven rebounds "even though we had people all over her all night long," Behn said.

Savi added 12 points for Dedham, which will take on Medway in tonight's title game (7:30 p.m.).

Strouble paced the Warriors with 12 points and seven rebounds. Greeley added eight and Roma seven.

"Tonight we had good interior scoring at times, but then it kind of cooled out on the outside," Behn said. "We're trying to put it together at both ends."