Baldwin girls basketball came back from a 14-point halftime deficit to beat Middletown by seven points on Saturday to secure their first state playoff win in seven years. 

Baldwin won the game 67-60. Senior team captain Bella Niles said that the team made a big change during halftime. 

“We knew that if we didn’t do something fast our season would be over, so we started to bully them and get more aggressive,” Niles said. 

They also made a change to the defense, according to fellow senior captain Laci Bernotas. 

“We needed to talk on defense and trap more in the corners, and in the second half we did that,” Bernotas said. 

The leading scorer for Baldwin was junior Lynsey Bernotas with 25. Close behind her was her sister Laci with 17 and senior Jules Ott with 16. 

The game was played at Middletown, near Harrisburg. The atmosphere there made the game a challenge for the Highlanders.

“They had all their fans crowd the gym, and there were times you couldn’t hear a single thing other than their chants,” Niles said. 

High tension in the game led to two flagrant fouls, one committed by each team. 

“It was probably one of our most exciting games yet, and we want more of that,” Niles said. 

The Highlanders will take on Indiana at Fox Chapel High School at 7 p.m. Wednesday. Baldwin defeated Indiana 41-37 in late February in a WPIAL consolation game to determine states seeding.