The Glenville-Emmons girls’ basketball team finally got the monkey off its back.

After suffering 13 consecutive losses to Alden-Conger, including the past two years in the playoffs, the Wolverines got a surprising lift from their bench in the crucial final seconds to pull off a 40-38 victory in the first round of the 1A subsection playoffs Friday in Alden.

Glenville-Emmons (13-12, 8-8 SEC) held a one-point lead with 17.4 seconds left when its leading scorer Kalli VanRyswyk fouled out and the Knights got an opportunity to tie the game when Allyssa Maras went to the line for a one-and-one. Maras missed and Devin Cooper, VanRyswyk’s replacement, sealed the victory by hitting one of two free throws with 8.3 seconds remaining.

“Winning this game tonight (Friday) is a huge confidence boost for these girls,” said Glenville-Emmons head coach Lisa Ziebell. “Monkey off my back.”

After trailing most of the game, Glenville-Emmons outscored the Knights 11-3 over the final 3 minutes, 25 seconds to secure the comeback victory with VanRyswyk leading the way. VanRyswyk finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds after being held to two points in the first half as the Wolverines rallied from a seven-point halftime deficit.

The Knights controlled the first half as senior Katie Hallman scored 12 points and helped give Alden-Conger (11-14, 3-8 Valley) control of the game early.

“We played a good first half. Wasn’t as good as I’d like,” said Knights head coach Gary Newman. “Still we were ahead going into halftime, not playing at the top of our game. We were still ahead.”

Alden-Conger’s offense sputtered in the second half and wasn’t able to get in rhythm, which allowed Glenville-Emmons to get back in the game.

Emily Belshan hit a jumper with 2:05 left in the game to give the Wolverines a 36-35 lead, their first of the game.

In the first half, Glenville-Emmons had trouble getting their offense going, whether it was rushing shots or forcing the ball into the post, which resulted in turnovers.

“The first half I was just happy to be down seven points at halftime.” Ziebell said. “We played an ugly first half, forcing the ball, making bad choices.”

In the second half, the tide turned. Glenville-Emmons defense forced Alden-Conger to turn the ball over and the Knights had difficulties getting into their offense.

“If you don’t run the offense and go through it bad things are going to happen,” Newman said. “and that’s exactly what happened in the second half.”

While both teams had trouble with their offense, it showed with their shooting. The Wolverines shot 33 percent from the field, while the Knights shot 31 percent overall. Bad shooting didn’t only happen from the floor but also at the free throw line. Glenville-Emmons made 6-of-23 attempts, while Alden-Conger was slightly better as it shot 6-of-15.

With the win, Glenville-Emmons moves on to the second round of the Section 1A playoffs.The Wolverines will play No. 1 seed Goodhue Monday at Mayo Auditorium in Rochester.

Glenville-Emmons 40, Alden-Conger 38

Glenville-Emmons 14 26 — 40

Alden-Conger 21 17 — 38

Glenville-Emmons scoring: Kalli Van Ryswyk 12, Emily Belshan 9, Alayna Hall 8, Kailey Davis 7, Reina Saltou 2, Megan Rasmusson 1, Devin Cooper 1.

Alden-Conger scoring: Katie Hallman 17, Ariel Keller 10, Kenzie Martin 7, Allyssa Maras 2, Karina Skov 2.