The Lady Outlaws kept biting their nails.

A couple of district rivals last week challenged the Enterprise High School girls basketball team for its stop in first place. The Outlaws on Jan. 7 at Union held off a late rally by the Bobcats, and escaped with a 42-35 win. The following days game at home against Elgin was déjà vu. The Outlaws surrendered a comfortable lead in the fourth quarter. The Huskies tied the score with 21 seconds remaining. But Enterprise sophomore Marta Stangel banked a layup that clinched another victory, 32-30.

It showed that were capable of overcoming that kind of difficulty, said sophomore Elsa Steen, who over the weekend scored a total of 4 points. It really showed that we can still be the best.

Enterprise maintained its standing on top of the Blue Mountain Conference. The Outlaws remained unbeaten, at 4-0. Their mark overall improved to 10-2.

Stangel was one of the top scorers. She netted a total of 14 points. Her production matched a couple of teammates: senior Alex McCadden and junior Whitney Schaefer. Senior Karli McCarthy ended up with 9 points, junior Shelby Graning had 8, freshman Hayley Riggs 7. Steen and senior Hannah Graham each put up 4 points.

The Outlaws needed all their offense against the Huskies. It was a slow-paced game, and Enterprise managed to build a 30-22 lead in the fourth quarter less than three minutes left. Elgin quickly scored eight points unanswered, drawing even with 21 seconds left. But Stangel broke loose, took a pass from Graham and tallied the game-winning basket.

Well take it, coach Mike Crawford said, but theres work to do.

Next, Enterprise will play Jan. 14 at home against Weston-McEwen.