It’s been a struggle for the Pine Bush girls’ basketball team in recent weeks, but one place they hadn’t struggled in is their home gym at Pine Bush High School.

The Bushmen hadn’t lost there this season and Friday night was no different, even if it took an extra four minutes.

And even though the Goshen Gladiators got a quick jump on them in the overtime period, the Bushmen excelled at the foul line and pulled out a 49-45 non-league win.

“We needed this win. We’re playing in the league,” Pine Bush coach Michelle Bouffard said. “This is my first year coaching with them. It’s an adjustment. We’re kind of meshing. We’re 4-0 on this floor. This is their place.”

Pine Bush also needed strong foul shooting, especially in overtime and they got that from junior Taylor Pannell, who finished with a team-high 16 points.

She knocked down 6 of 8 free throws to help the Bushmen turn a five-point deficit into a four-point win.

“I knew I couldn’t let them down,” Pannell said, “If I didn’t make them, it would have been a whole lot harder to win this game.”

Bouffard said she tells the team constantly that wins and losses can come down to free throws.

“I think sometimes we underestimate that, but we knew that it would come down to that,” Pannell said.

Pine Bush (4-7) Lilly Ramirez also had a strong offensive performance with 15 points, which included a layup to pull Pine Bush to within a point with 1:21 to go in overtime.

That left it up to Pannell, who hit 5 of 6 to secure the victory.

“It means a lot,” Pannell said. “It means we have momentum going into the rest of the season. Now we can try to get our record up and see if we can make playoffs.”

Defense also played a key role as Toni Adipitero had the unenviable task of keeping Goshen’s under control. She still scored a game-high 23 points, but was held to nine points in the second half and shut out in over time.

“We played good man-to-man,” Bouffard said. “We have to communicate and you have to talk together. Toni did a good job on (Smith). She’s a good player. She locked her up and did a good job.”

Pine Bush was scheduled to return to the court Tuesday for a non-league home game against Port Jervis.

“It was a good win for them,” Bouffard said. “We needed it.”