When sports teams from traditional rivals Germantown Academy and Penn Charter engage, unexpected things can happen.

In the Inter-Ac League season, the girls’ basketball games between the Patriots and Quakers had gone the way most observers anticipated, with league runner-up GA defeating fifth-place Penn Charter by 21 points each time in the home/away series.

The teams met again on Feb. 17 in the first round of the Pennsylvania Independent Schools tournament, and although Germantown had two players out of action due to injury, many people felt that the Patriots still had too much firepower for the Quakers to overcome.

PC head coach Erin Martin and her players weren’t convinced of that, though, and although GA led at many points in the game, in the end Charter came away with a 42-39 upset victory.

PC, the 10th seed for the PAIS tournament, improved to 11-14 overall after finishing the Inter-Ac campaign with a 4-8 mark. GA, which had gone 9-3 in the league and was seeded seventh for the Indy Schools playoffs, ended its season with an overall record of 16-12.

Prior to the Feb. 17 contest, two GA players had gone into concussion protocol. Sophomore Taylor Williams, a starting power forward, had knocked noggins with freshman forward Chloe Armenakis during a practice session. Both watched the PAIS game from the bench, wearing everyday clothes.

The scoreboard remained at 0-0 for almost two minutes before PC senior Molly Dougherty (who will play lacrosse for the University of Michigan) bagged a jumper from just below the foul line. Junior forward Claire McKee evened it up for GA, and then the Quakers’ dynamic junior guard, Laila Sharp, began her game-high scoring effort with a driving layup and two free throws.

McKee scored again and GA got three-point field goals from freshman point guard Sam Kollock and senior forward Sylvie Harrington (who’ll play hoops at Gettysburg College). Charter junior guard Mia DiBenedetto (who has verbally committed to Penn State for lacrosse) tagged a three-point shot from the left wing, but GA ended the first quarter with a 12-9 lead after junior forward Jo Owens put in a pair of foul shots.

Sharp completed an and-one three-point play to tie things up at the start of the second round, and the teams proceeded neck-and-neck through the rest of the quarter. GA sophomore guard Molly Beggs hit a “three” from the right corner to give the Pats a 19-17 edge near the end, but the half ended at 19-19 after Quakers senior Marleigh Jackson (who’ll play at Johns Hopkins University) nailed a short jumper from the left side of the lane.

Dougherty contributed a transition layup and a free throw for Penn Charter early in the third period, but a little later she committed her fourth personal foul and withdrew to the bench. Responding to a three-pointer by GA’s Harrington with one of her own, Sharp gave the visitors a 27-26 edge with under three minutes remaining.

Charter fouls sent GA’s McKee and freshman Liv Smith to the foul line to score two points apiece. With a dozen seconds left, the Quakers’ Aubrei Smith connected on the second of two free throws, trimming the hosts’ lead to two points (30-28) for the start of the fourth quarter.

In addition to the Penn Charter defense, a major problem for the GA offense was a significant number of missed shots from the paint, including putbacks. On several occasions, the Patriots missed three shots from close range on a single possession before the Quakers eventually came up with a rebound.

Germantown held its last lead of the day midway through the fourth quarter, at 37-35. Jackson tied it with a basket on an inbounds play. Then, on a missed three-point shot, Sharp grabbed the long rebound and went down the lane to score. GA called time-out, trailing 39-37 with 2:08 remaining.

When play resumed, Emma Seckinger drove in from the right to level the score. A drive by Dougherty with 1:45 left to play moved the Quakers ahead for good. The Patriots committed a shot clock violation on their subsequent possession.

GA had only two team fouls and had to start fouling to stop the clock. The third team foul was Harrington’s fifth personal, and she left the floor with 24.7 ticks to go.

After a steal for each team there was a tie-up, and PC got the ball. When the Patriots’ fifth team foul put Aubrei Smith on the line, she made the first of two shots, stamping the 42-39 final on the scoreboard with 13 seconds remaining.

GA had taken a time-out between the two tosses by Smith, and on the missed second shot Mckee grabbed the rebound for the Pats. The game ended with an errant three-point shot by the hosts and Sharp grabbing the rebound for the victors.

She would lead all scorers with 18 points, followed by Dougherty with seven, Smith with six, and Jackson with four. DiBenedetto and senior Cailyn O’Brien each scored three points, and junior Katie Shoup scored one.

Harrington topped the list of GA scorers with 10 points, followed by Owens with eighth, McKee with six and Seckinger with four. Kollock, Beggs and sophomore Julianna Rush each scored three points, and Liv Smith had two.

UPDATE: Penn Charter’s season ended on Friday in a second-round PAIS game at Friends Central. Second-seeded Friends Central, which has been nationally ranked, won 64-33.