They are starting to find their identity.

Early this season, Bow girls basketball coach Corey Boilard expressed a need for patience while his players adjusted to each other and, in some cases, high school competition.

Nearly two-thirds of the way through the season, his Lady Falcons are 8-3, and having played with house money thus far, are ready to push all in as they head toward the Class I postseason.

In other words, the young Bow squad is winning, despite Boilard’s tempered expectations. “Matching our inexperience with our age differential, I knew it was definitely going to take a half a season for them to start getting comfortable playing together,” he said. “But the work ethic and talent is there for these girls, and the potential to do something special is definitely there.”

Boilard pointed to a topheavy Class I as an indication that his team, along with several others, has the opportunity to finish as high as fourth in the standings, which gives it a firstround home playoff game and puts it in position to pull off an upset or two.

Still, he is hesitant to commit to that set of expectations, choosing instead to enjoy watching his players come together and maintaining a pleasant air of surprise.

“From the first day of practice, one of the goals was to work to achieve and maximize their potential, and that’s what they’ve done,” said Boilard. “For us, it’s more a matter of believing we can win and believing in each other that we can go out and do it together.”

The coach said he was impressed with his players’ maturity and composure when they bounced back from a tough loss at Kearsarge to defeat Oyster River in overtime.

Returning home after exactly one month on the road, the Lady Falcons withstood an Oyster River comeback attempt and won in overtime on Jan. 11, 51-48.

The game was tied at halftime before the locals, behind pressing defense from Maggie Crisman, Kaley Marston and Kaitlyn Hinck, pulled ahead for a six-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.

But Oyster River adjusted and hit three late three-pointers to pull ahead.

Bow, not to be denied, fed the ball to Hinck, who hit a flashy reverse layup to knot the contest with less than 30 seconds on the game clock.

The visitors went 5-for-5 from the foul line to move ahead in OT, but Hinck nailed a three-pointer to tie the game, and Kelly Chergey, who hadn’t scored all night – an usual occurrence, said her coach – drained an 8-foot jump shot to give Bow the lead for good.

Hinck assured the victory by stealing a last-second Oyster River pass.

She finished the contest with 22 points – 15 from beyond the arc – to go along with seven rebounds, four steals and three assists.

The versatile Maggie Crisman added 10 points, five rebounds and three steals, while Caitlin Heindl and Alison Meagher stepped up with solid defense in the win.

“After losing two in a row earlier in the year, we talked about not letting it happen again, and to win it in that fashion at home, in front of our fans, it was a great confidence booster for the girls,” said Boilard.

Against Kearsarge, the Lady Falcons led with two minutes remaining in the contest, but after watching the lead and the win slip away, Boilard said he recognized a common theme.

Bow allowed its foe to shoot 28 free throws, including 9-for-11 in the fourth quarter, while the locals shot just three and made only two in the contest.

In its other two losses, at Coe-Brown and against John Stark in early December, Boilard’s team gave up 19 points from the stripe in each setback, a sure sign his players needed to exhibit better discipline late in games.

“It’s something that gets better as the season goes along, so I haven’t been terribly concerned about it, especially since they have already gotten better since the Christmas break,” he said. “I look at Coach K (Mike Krzyzewski) from Duke, and he preaches you have to get to the line and make more free throws than the other team if you want to win. That’s certainly been true with us.”

Meagan Faretra scored 11 points in the Kearsarge loss, Chergey had eight and Kaitlyn Hinck scored seven.