Lady Wildcats Hold on to Beat Stoneham [PHOTOS, VIDEO]

The Wilmington High School girls basketball team went to Florida and all they brought back was the confidence to keep winning games.

Following a successful trip to the Sunshine State that saw the Lady Wildcats grab a second place tournament finish, Wilmington continued its recent winning ways on Tuesday with a 56-53 win over visiting Stoneham.

It was the first Middlesex League Small School Division contest for both teams, and thanks to the win, the Wildcats improved to 5-2 on the year.

As she has throughout the early going, Emily Crannell led the way for the locals. She poured home 23 points on the evening as the only Wilmington player in double digits.

Following Crannell's output, the scoring was balanced throughout the roster. Meaghan Stinson was next with nine points followed by Jen Stewart, who chipped in eight markers.

Wilmington led by double digits through most of the second half, but a persistent Stoneham attack cut the edge to a single posession in the final seconds.

With eight seconds to play, the Spartans sliced the deficit to 54-53, but Alexandra Derian netted a pair of free throws and broke up the ensuing inbounds pass to seal the win.