Just when it looked as though the SHAPE Lady Spartans were going to clinch the Region I big schools title on Saturday, Lakenheath decided to press the issue.

“We were about six points down with three minutes to go,” Lakenheath athletic director Janis Ready said by telephone Saturday night after Lakenheath claimed a 43-42 overtime victory. “But the girls started pressing and clawed their way back into it.”

Shaionica Speight scored a game-high 23 points to help Lakenheath escape a 21-point, 28-rebound effort by SHAPE star Liene Bauska. The win ended a three-game losing streak and kept the Lady Lancers alive for the Region I big-schools title.

SHAPE, which downed Lakenheath 37-30 Friday in a game in which Bauska totaled 22 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks, ended its regular season 9-4 overall and 5-2 in Region I. With Saturday’s victory, Lakenheath improved to 3-2 in Region I. A sweep of visiting AFNORTH this coming weekend would leave the Lancers and SHAPE tied atop Region I’s big schools standings.

In other girls games of note:

Patch 62, Black Forest Academy 25: Saturday at Stuttgart, sophomore Janelle Loney broke loose for 23 points and seven rebounds to help the Lady Panthers stay unbeaten atop the Region III standings.

Patch, which got 21 points from Shi-Kimeyun Alexander and nine points and nine rebounds from Claralyn Burt, is 10-0 overall and 8-0 in regional play. Patch, which had its games the previous weekend at Vilseck snowed out, isn’t scheduled to play again until it hosts Bamberg, also unbeaten in Region III, in a championship showdown on Feb. 19-20.

Aviano 57, Milan 33: Saturday at Aviano, the Lady Saints advanced to 10-0 on the season and clinched at least a tie for the Region IV championship behind 22 points from Jasmine Mailoto.

Aviano is to close out its regular season this weekend at the American Overseas School of Rome, which brings an 8-2 mark into the contest. A victory in either game by Aviano, whose boys wrapped up their regional championship Saturday, will hand them the Region IV crown.

Wiesbaden 53, Kaiserslautern 41: Friday at Kaiserslautern, Wiesbaden remained unbeaten in regional play behind 41 points from the Thomas sisters.

LeAndra Thomas tallied 26 points and LeAmber Thomas 15 as Wiesbaden upped its Region II mark to 6-0. The Lady Warriors are 8-2 overall and play at 3-7 Bitburg this weekend before taking on Ramstein, 5-1 in regional play, in a home-and-home showdown the following week.

Ramstein 39, Mannheim 37: Friday at Ramstein, Nadia Booker posted a double-double — a team-high 10 points and a game-high 19 rebounds — to allow the Division I Lady Royals to escape their D-II guests.

Booker was able to maintain her concentration in a lengthy game that saw the officials whistle the teams for a combined 48 fouls.

Mannheim fell to 5-6 overall, 3-5 in Region II.

Bitburg 31, Baumholder 22: Saturday at Baumholder, the scoring woes continued for the winless Lady Bucs, last year’s unbeaten Division III champs. Baumholder (0-10, 0-6 in Region II), averaging a little more than 17 points per game this season, got 15 in this game from Brianni Van Tassel and trailed just 13-11 at halftime before falling to Bitburg (3-7, 3-3).