There were referees with pink whistles, some interesting strategy down the stretch and one team's depth making the difference. All in all, just another night at the gymnasium.

The three referees at the Carrabec-Hall-Dale game had pink whistles, and will have the pink attire all week because of cancer awareness. It was also announced that the referees are donating part of their paychecks to the American Cancer Society.

There was an interesting bit of strategy by Carrabec coach Scott Jones late in the game. Carrabec's Mackenzie Weese missed a game-tying free throw with 16 seconds left, and the ball went out of bounds to Hall-Dale.

Coaching the game in my head, as a I sometimes do, I thought Jones would call timeout or make some substitutions. Weese, Alichia Stoddard and Randi Kaplan each had four fouls, and in a foul-to-get-the-ball-back situation, I thought Jones would put them on the bench for Hall-Dale's possession so they could be around when Carrabec got the ball back.

Shows what I know. All three stayed in the game, Stoddard made a steal in the backcourt, and when she missed a shot, Weese got the putback and drew a foul. It turned out the reward of their defensive pressure was greater than the risk of a fifth foul.

"I wanted to keep the momentum going," Jones said, "and I had three or four girls to go to on the bench who I would have felt comfortable with as well."

In the end, Jones having a deeper bench made the difference. Hall-Dale was missing two starters, and couldn't fully replace those missing points. Carrabec was definitely better with its starters in the game (like just about every team) but eight different players hit at least one field goal for the Cobras, and two of those players were subs who hit their only basket in the fourth quarter.