COOS BAY — When the final horn sounded, Marshfield girls basketball coach Debbie Dunbar let out a burst of emotion, punching the air with her fist and running to hug her players on the court.

The Pirates beat visiting Churchill 49-48, ending two long weeks of frustrating defeats, and Dunbar couldn’t hold in her feelings.

“My excitement was for them,” she said. “It was a monkey off their backs. They believe they can win again.”

Marshfield has had a roller-coaster Midwestern League season that started with three tough losses that all could easily have been wins. The Pirates rebounded with three straight wins and then pounded North Eugene 59-36 to move into a tie for second place in the league standings.

But Marshfield had to forfeit that win for accidentally using a player in six quarters between the varsity and junior varsity games — one more than allowed.

That win-turned-loss started a downward spiral for the Pirates that didn’t end until Tuesday night, when Mel Stout scored the winning basket with 10 seconds left in the game and Churchill’s Jordan Goschie missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

“I have seen these girls go from sharing such great joy after their 23-point defeat of North to a group of kids that were so devastated — from tears of joy to a flood of tears of sadness,” Dunbar said.

On Tuesday, the joy was back.

“It feels pretty dang good,” said Brianna George, who made the pass to Stout for the winning basket.

George, Stout and Moriah Roberge each finished with 13 points and combined to score all of the Pirates’ points in the fourth quarter, which saw Marshfield go from tied to four down to three up to three down before the final dramatic minutes.

George tied the game at 44 with a 3-pointer with 1:20 to go in the game, but Goschie had two free throws 12 seconds later to put Churchill back in front.

Marshfield ran its offense looking for a good shot inside, but Roberge found herself alone at the 3-point line and swished a shot to put the Pirates back in front with 35 seconds to go.

After a Churchill timeout, Susan Smith ran down a long pass and flicked the ball in off the backboard to give the Lancers a 48-47 edge.

But Marshfield stayed calm, and executed the play with George finding Stout open and Stout putting the ball in the hoop.

“I was surprised they ran it my way,” said Stout, adding that all she was thinking was to make the shot.

The Pirates have been working on a new offense designed to get the ball in to a post who has the option of either looking for a shot or kicking it back out to the guards. Stout found herself wide open as the play ran to perfection, turning to the hoop after receiving the pass.

“These kids finished,” Dunbar said.

The Pirates won even though Churchill shot better than 50 percent from the field (20-for-39), went 7-for-8 on free throws and had a 29-19 rebounding edge.

Marshfield made up the difference by forcing 18 turnovers, including nine steals, while committing just 10, and making six 3-pointers — three each by George and Roberge — while Churchill had just one.

Goschie led the Lancers with 15 points and Katie Chapman added 10 points and seven rebounds.

Roberge had six rebounds and Stout five for Marshfield. George had four steals.

Bre Jansen scored six of her eight points in the third quarter, helping the Pirates stay with the Lancers after Churchill got momentum going into halftime on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Goschie.

With the team out of the running for the league’s three playoff spots, Marshfield is playing for pride and momentum for next year, when everyone on the squad but lone senior Ali Worthen should be back.

Tuesday’s win gave Marshfield two victories in the three games against Churchill, and the Pirates finish the season at Springfield Thursday and at home against Thurston on Saturday.

“I told the girls I thought we were the second best team in the conference,” Dunbar said. “I thought we could make a statement by beating Churchill.”

Now the Pirates will try also to beat Springfield and Thurston to finish the season on a high note.