YORK – It was defense. It was clutch offense. It was Lake Region’s worst game of the season. It was a little of everything and it added up to the York girls’ basketball team shocking the top-ranked Lakers 44-37 in a Western Class B game Thursday night.

It was also a little dramatic.

Abby Craffey of Lake Region hit a 3-pointer with 2:31 left to cut York’s lead to 41-35, but Andrea Mountford would have none of it.

The Wildcats’ point guard drove for a layup and a 43-35 lead, then watched as Lake Region hoisted a desperate 3-pointer to turn the ball over with a minute left. The win improved York’s record to 11-3 and dropped Lake Region to 13-1.

And it felt good for the Wildcats to deal some payback to the Lakers, who beat York two weeks earlier, 51-37. That win came on the shoulders of Tiana-Jo Carter, who scored 22 points.

The Wildcats weren’t going to let that happen again.

They denied pass after pass to Carter, who finished with just six points.

“That was the thing,” Mountford said. “We knew she was the one we had to focus on. It was a lot harder than we thought. All we knew was that she was the one we had to shut down.”

Seemingly every York player had a hand in the effort.

When asked to single out a few players who starred in the post, Coach Rick Clark seemingly named half his team. He credited his bench players with stepping up to help shut down Carter and hamper the Lake Region offense.

The York defense was particularly potent in the first half, when Lake Region hit just 3 of 25 shots from the floor. The Lakers were also just 1 of 7 from the free-throw line in the first half, causing Coach Paul True to mutter at one point, “Are you kidding me?” after a pair of missed free throws.

Lake Region went more than six minutes without scoring in the second quarter, but York couldn’t take much advantage and went into halftime with a 16-9 lead.

“When we did get to our basket, we didn’t take good shots,” True said. “It’s just mind-boggling. We’ve shot over 3,500 free throws in practice up to this point. It’s just something we’ve struggled with all year.”

But the Wildcats’ offense, which was muted for much of the game, finally clicked in the second half.

Sometimes it was Mountford driving and taking fouls to get to the foul line. And sometimes it was Emily Campbell, who made baskets on three straight York possessions.

Six York players scored in the second half as seemingly everybody had something to do with the win.

Even when Lake Region got close — the Lakers pulled within six points several times in the second half but no closer — it never seemed like York was going to let the upset slip away.

“This is how a tournament team plays,” Clark said. “Now hopefully it will bode them well up there in the state tournament.”