Last modified: Friday, December 28, 2007 12:14 AM EST Norton saves Bessette for last BY MARK FARINELLA / SUN CHRONICLE STAFF NORTON - The Norton High School girls' basketball team has already doubled its win output of last year, and it didn't take long for the Lancers to do it. Even better, they did it Thursday night in a manner they may remember for the rest of their lives. Freshman guard Kayla Bessette sank a three-pointer from the right sideline with 5.8 seconds left to defeat East Bridgewater, 46-45, in the opening round of the Norton High Girls' Basketball Holiday Tournament. The Lancers, now 2-3 overall, were already predetermined to be playing Martha's Vineyard (a 69-13 victor over Bristol-Plymouth) at 6:30 tonight because of the guaranteed-games format of the two-day affair. But now, after Bessette's game-winning shot, that game has become a real (if unofficial) championship contest. Perhaps most impressive about the Lancers' victory is that they had fallen behind by nine points (41-32) with 2:16 left to play as the visiting Vikings (3-2) ran off 12 of the first 14 points of the fourth quarter. But after a baseline jumper by EB's Olivia Harvey created the largest deficit, Norton responded with five straight points - a free throw by Jen Brown, a top-of-the-key two-pointer by Elizabeth Devolve and a lay-in by Shannon Hansen off Brown's feed with 1:36 left to trail 41-37. The key to Norton's victory was strategic fouling and wise use of timeouts by the Lancers' assistant coach, Megan Mierzwinski. "Using those timeouts at the end, fouling and playing the clock at the end, that's what won it for us," said Mierzwinski, the former standout guard for the Lancers through the 1999-2000 season. She was standing in for head coach Ted Currle, who was absent for personal reasons. In the last 1:29, East Bridgewater made good on only four of 10 free-throw opportunities while Norton's accuracy was paying off at the charity stripe. Katie Idreos hit a pair with 28.1 seconds left to pull within two at 43-41, and Brown's two with 18.1 seconds left cut the Vikings' lead to one. Norton got the ball with 17.1 seconds left after EB's Arianna Goldberg made the second shot to restore the two-point lead. Brown brought it upcourt and pulled the defense with her into the lane before dropping the pass to Bessette on the sideline for the game-winner. "She did exactly what I asked her to do, which was awesome," Mierzwinski said of Bessette. "I knew that if she cut down and got set, she would hit it." The game was nip-and-tuck throughout. Norton led 9-7 after the first quarter thanks to a 5-2 surge at the end, and maintained the narrow lead through the second quarter. It appeared that the Vikings figured out the Lancers' weakness in the second half, and started pounding the ball inside to 6-foot center Lauren Frew, who scored all but two of their 13 points in the third quarter. But after falling behind 27-21, Norton outscored the Vikings 9-2 over the last 2:18, including a pair of baskets by Bessette. "When we made the adjustment to a box-and-one on (Frew), I think that made a difference because she was just pounding us," Mierzwinski said. Forward Jen Harvey threatened to become the replacement for Frew in the Vikings' plans, scoring six points from close range in their 12-2 run at the start of the final quarter. But the Lancers didn't lose their composure and were rewarded at the finish. Frew pumped in 18 points and grabbed 19 rebounds for the Vikings, and Harvey added another 15 points and 12 rebounds toward a 46-36 edge off the glass. Brown, a senior, topped Norton with 12 points, adding five rebounds and five assists. Bessette finished with nine points and five rebounds, and Idreos added eight points and six rebounds.