NEEDHAM — Trailing one of the state’s top girls basketball squads with two minutes to play Friday night, it would have been easy for Eva Downing and her Braintree teammates to quit.

Rather than wilt under the pressure, the Braintree junior decided to deliver in the clutch. Downing dropped a team-high 17 points, while Francesca Mazzini added 14 points herself as the Wamps (12-4) rallied late to spoil Needham’s Senior Night with an epic 50-44 victory on the road.

“That was definitely one of our biggest wins,” Mazzini said. “I just think we fought through every single quarter. We had a lot of team chemistry throughout the entire game, and our defense was really on top of it today.”

The Rockets (12-4) came out motivated in front of a packed house, looking to defend homecourt. Powered by a quick five-point spurt by captain Hannah Levine in the opening minutes, Needham jumped out to an immediate 12-4 advantage with 3:54 to play in the first quarter.

Following a timeout by Braintree, however, the Wamps punched right back with a 7-0 run in a 59-second stretch to cut things to 12-11. It was a sign of things to come.

Braintree’s Francesca Mazzini dives for the ball in front of Needham’s Dani Deroian as Braintree takes on Needham in girls basketball. (Staff photo by Stuart Cahill/Media News Group)

From that moment forward, the two Bay State Conference foes traded punches throughout, exchanging one run after the next. The Rockets constructed a 31-25 lead into the half, and you could feel the tension beginning to build at Needham High School.

As the third quarter got underway, Braintree found its rhythm, embarking on an 8-0 run. Mazzini sank a pair of free throws with 6:13 to play in the frame, as the Wamps seized their first lead of the night at 33-31.

“We came out in the second half with a lot of energy,” Downing said. “We knew what we had to do. Even though we were down at times, we didn’t let it stop us.”

Then, Needham responded. The Rockets finished the quarter on a 6-0 run of their own and found themselves clinging to a 39-35 lead. Levine sank a contested layup to open the fourth, and it felt as though the Rockets were beginning to close things out.

Yet, Braintree had one final gasp.

Needham’s Lacey Williams (L) looses control of the rebound against Braintree’s Audrey Ormsby as Braintree takes on Needham in girls basketball. (Staff photo by Stuart Cahill/Media News Group)

After Braintree head coach Kelley Macdonald utilized a timeout with 2:20 remaining, Downing drilled a corner triple moments later to bring her team back within one at 44-43.

“It really got the team going,” said Downing. “I think from there on, we knew we had it. We just had to stay composed, and stay with it.”

The two teams exchanged possessions, looking to ice the game. Then, with 40 seconds to play, a steal by the Wamps led to a three-on-one opportunity in transition, and Downing hit another layup to give Braintree a 45-44 lead.

The Wamps proceeded to force another Rockets turnover, and Mazzini sank two more free throws to push the lead to 47-44 with 36.4 seconds remaining. They would close things out from there at the charity stripe.

“That’s like a tournament kind of environment going on right there,” Macdonald said. “So I liked that they stepped up, and they fought for that.”