Following Monday’s 29-point loss to Princeton in the semifinals of the Gold Bracket of the Ottawa Girls Holiday Tournament, Pirates coach Brent Moore and his squad were searching for answers heading into Tuesday’s third-place contest against Pontiac.

“We were at a low moment as a team, top to bottom, after the loss to Princeton,” Moore said. “This morning, we came in, had a nice walk-through prep for Pontiac and then had a nice long talk. We made a pact as a team that regardless of what the scoreboard said at the end of the game tonight we were going to be unified as a team.”

Ottawa (9-5) played inspired on both ends of the floor throughout a 51-46 victory over the Indians (7-6) at Kingman Gymnasium.

“When you play as a team, play for each other, keep high energy and stay positive in a game you’re more times than not going to be on the winning end at the final buzzer,” Moore said. “That’s what I saw here tonight from this group of girls. They played well and it was really fun to see them get back to the team I know they can be.”

The hosts led 8-6 after the opening quarter, 21-16 at halftime and 35-28 heading to the final eight minutes.

Pontiac began the final period on a 7-2 run to cut the disadvantage to just two, but back-to-back 3-pointers by Libby Muffler made it 43-35 with just over four minutes to play.

“When we need to make a game-winning play we did so,” Moore said. “This was a good tournament for us, and a great way to finish out 2025. We found out a lot about ourselves and the team we can be when we are all on the same page and stick together.”

From there, senior Mary Stisser — who finished with a team-high 15 points, three assists, two steals and was named to the all-tournament team — knocked down six straight free throws to help Ottawa keep it a three-possession game.

“We had a rough game (Monday), didn’t shoot the ball well and let that effect all the other parts of our game,” Stisser said. “But we had a team meeting this morning and talked about how we wanted to regroup and what it was going to take. Our team is close on and off the court, and we stick together.”

Ashlynn Ganiere had 13 points (3-of-4 3s) and three steals for the Pirates, while Muffler finished with 11 points and seven rebounds. Freshman Kennedy Kane was the fourth Pirate in double figures with 10 points to go along with four assists.

Ottawa finished 15-of-32 (47%) shooting, including 9-of-20 from beyond the arc, and hit 12-of-19 from the free-throw line.

Pontiac received a game-high 20 points from Grace Manning and 18 points from Araceli Serna.

“I thought we did a phenomenal job tonight bouncing back,” Stisser said. “We did all the things we talked about and stayed positive throughout the entire game.

“It was nice to end our tournament with a win.”

Ottawa returns to the court on Jan. 5 when it hosts Rock Falls.