Bridget Mulholland exploded for 26 points Thursday afternoon, and the Regiopolis Notre Dame Panthers needed just about all of them to defeat the La Salle Black Knights, 54-46, in high school senior girls basketball play at Regi.

Not many teams have been able to get that close to the undefeated (8-0) Panthers. Only Sydenham, which lost by just three points on Oct. 8, has come any closer against a Regi team whose average margin of victory this year is almost 22 points.

Shooting well—Mulholland would finish the game with five three-point baskets, and Rebecca Wendland’s 14 points would largely consist of four threes—the Panthers were in control of the game until La Salle began to press in the second quarter.

Regi still outscored the visitors in the first three periods and though the Knights outscored the Panthers in the fourth quarter, the Regi lead by that point was too substantial to overcome.

Jamie Mumby scored 19 points for La Salle, hitting three three-pointers along the way. Abbey Hetherington added nine points to the attack of the Knights, who continue to reside in third place at 5-2.

Elsewhere in the Kingston Area Secondary Schools Athletic Association Thursday, the Kingston Blues won their third game in a row, a 46-21 home-court victory over the Napanee Golden Hawks; Holy Cross confirmed its grip on second place with a 48-20 home-court win over the Bayridge Blazers, and Sydenham climbed above .500 at 4-3 with a 43-23 win over the Falcons at Frontenac.