The trajectory with which the 25-foot heave rotated through the air made it seem like a last-moment miracle was about to go against Stone Bridge High School on its own floor Jan. 23.

When the basketball ricocheted off the rim and out of bounds, leaving 0.8 seconds on the clock and the score 59-58 in the home team’s favor, the Bulldogs’ gym rang with cheers of relief.

Stone Bridge (14-2, 7-2 in the Liberty District) survived a strong challenge from Marshall (6-11, 1-8 in district) in the sort of competitive battle Bulldog coach Thomas Gaffney likened to a late-season tilt.

“It’s like this in district games. Their coaches have been in here three or four times scouting us,” said Gaffney, noting his team was unable to practice since its win over Liberty-leading Madison Jan. 20.

“But it’s good for us because we’ll keep on having to grind these out and that’ll help us in districts and hopefully regionals.”

Early in the second quarter, when Megan Della Penna corralled a strong offensive rebound to set up Kayla Sleece’s swished 3-pointer to give Stone Bridge a 10-point lead, the Bulldogs looked poised to run away with another double-digit win.

But after halftime, the Statesmen suddenly developed uncanny accuracy from beyond the 3-point arc, using an 8-0 run to get within five.

The post tandem of Megan Della Penna and Murielle Tiernan extended Stone Bridge’s lead to 11, but Marshall stormed back again as Maddie O’Beirne drilled a pair of long ones.

O’Beirne was one of four Statesmen to nail a 3-pointer, depositing a game-high of four.

“Those were the first 3-pointers that girl’s hit all year,” Gaffney said. “Not usually a shooter.”

Marshall, combining torrid shooting with Stone Bridge’s futility from the free-throw line, stayed within five of the district’s second-place team for the remainder.

“We missed a lot of easy baskets and a lot of free throws,” Gaffney lamented.

On three late occasions the visitors were down a mere point, but were unable to take the lead.

The Bulldogs will deal with another quick turnaround as the schedule calls for them to travel to McLean Jan. 26.

Stone Bridge 59, Marshall 58

SB: Della Penna 21, Tiernan 16, Prince 12, Broderick 5, Sleece 5

M: O’Beirne 19, Denny 8, LaBarbera 7, Greenwood 6, Reinhart 6, Waldron 6, Marsh 4, Smith 2

Halftime: Stone Bridge 28-18

3-pointers: SB 2 (Prince, Sleece); M 8 (O’Beirne 4, Greenwood 2, Denny, LaBarbera)

Free throws: SB (11 of 25); M (4 of 6)