Leading up to Streator’s nonconference visit from Earlville, junior guard Audrey Arambula had missed a few days due to illness.

She got the Bulldogs well Saturday morning, turning back a second-half Earlville rally with an electric start to the fourth and final quarter and icing the win with a pair of free throws in the closing seconds of Streator’s third win of the season, a 33-28 topping of the visiting Red Raiders.

“I’ve been out a couple days, not at practice, and came off the bench today,” Arambula said. “But I thought this was a winnable game for us, so I just had to go out and play my hardest and do my best. ...

“It’s probably one of the best games I’ve had in a while. I think i just got momentum behind me and got a spark back for the whole team.”

The victory lifts Streator to 3-15.

Earlville – which trailed by as many as eight in the first half but only by one entering the fourth quarter – slips to 4-12.

“It’s always a good matchup,” Red Raiders coach Brandon Skolek said. “[Arambula] was going downhill really well in that fourth quarter. They were taking her off screens, and we didn’t have an answer for it. ”With the game plan focused on Ava [Gwaltney, Streator’s leading scorer on the season], it left No. 5 for a big game, and she did it."

Arambula’s fourth-quarter heroics began right away with a pair of nice-take layups that extended what was a 23-22 Streator advantage starting the final period to a five-point lead. She went on to add a pair of fourth-quarter steals and four free throws, finishing with a team-high 10 points and eight of the Bulldogs’ 10 fourth-quarter points, individually outscoring Earlville over the final eight minutes.

“I told her at halftime she needed to attack the hoop more, and when she gets the ball be confident with it,” Streator coach Eric Gwaltney said. “And she came out and executed right what I told her, took it to ‘em.”

Balanced scoring was the key to victory for Streator with Ava Gwaltney ably guarded by Earlville’s Bailey Miller and limited to just three points.

Behind Arambula’s 10, the hosts received seven points and three steals from Isabel Gwaltney, six points, nine rebounds and two blocked shots courtesy of Alexis Thomas and a five-point, eight-rebound effort from Rhea Huey. Ava Gwaltney found other ways to contribute, though, recording three assists, eight rebounds and a game-best seven steals.

“I’ve told the girls all year, [teams] are going to face-guard Ava, box-and-one,” Coach Gwaltney said. “When Ava’s not having a good game or is boxed in, everyone needs to step up, and today they really did.”

For Earlville, Audrey Scherer scored a game-best 13 points, part of a double-double paired with her game-high 15 rebounds.

“We were just communicating more, finding the right pass and not rushing it,” Audrey Scherer said of Earlville’s strong runs in the second, third and late fourth quarters to stay in the game until the end. “We slowed it down in the half court more and just looked for our teammates, didn’t rush it.”

Miller (six points, eight rebounds and four assists in addition to her work shutting down Streator’s top scorer), Addie Scherer (five points) and Jacey Helgesen (four points, eight rebounds, three steals) also paced the Red Raiders’ attack, but turnovers on six of their first seven fourth-quarter possessions combined with Arambula’s game-changing finish kept the visitors from the road win.

Streator finished with 13 turnovers to Earlville’s 19, though the Red Raiders won the rebounding battle 45-42.