The packed house in Erath that were on hand as the Lady Bobcats hosted NV got their money’s worth on Friday, as the Lady Bobcats beat the Lady Pats 51-49 in a thriller.

NV came out on a 7-0 run, building its lead to 10-2 and holding a 16-10 advantage after one quarter.

The Lady Bobcats came storming back in the second quarter though, and at the half it was 28-27 Lady Pats.

Erath head coach Andrea Bernard said she was not surprised to see her team have to work to erase the early deficit.

“I wasn’t worried because that’s normally how our girls start off our games,” she said with a wry smile. “We very rarely start off with a run, so we’re used to having to battle back.”

The NV defense was aggressive all night, which caused turnovers aplenty, but also put Lady Bobcats on the line often.

In the first half, Erath came back to a near tie despite hitting on just 9-of-19 free throws.

Ironic, then, that the game would more or less be decided by a Lady Bobcat at the stripe.

With just 28 ticks left, EHS’ Megan Norris stood at the line with the score tied at 46 apiece.

Norris drained both shots. Then, with 10 seconds left, Norris again went to the line with her team still up two.

She hit both of those as well.

Erath would hold a 51-46 lead when, right at the buzzer, NV’s Catherine Touchet hit a trey to get it to the final margin, but it was not enough, as Erath tookhome the important win. Bernard said Norris would be one of her top choices in that situation.

“My seniors are great,” she said. “They are the leaders on the team and I would have put any one of them on the line there.”

Norris led Erath with 18 points. Caitlin Domingues had 11.

NV was led by Kate Faulk’s 12 and Chelcie Sonnier’s 11 points.

Erath (16-12, 6-3) next travels to Franklin () on Tuesday, Feb. 7 for its final road game of the season.

NV (16-7, 8-2) travels to Abbeville (23-6, 10-0), also on Tuesday.