LYLE — The No. 3 ranked Lyle-Pacelli girls basketball team passed its first major test of the season when it beat No. 6 ranked Maranatha Christian Academy 65-56 in Lyle Gym Saturday.

The Athletics led by as many as 18 points in the second half, but their lead dwindled to 57-51 when Maranatha’s Alaina Jarnot finished a lay-up to make it a 57-51 game with 3:41 left. On its next possession, Maranatha missed a three-pointer that would’ve made it a three point game and then Sarah Holtz knocked down a baseline jump shot to make it 59-51 with 3:10 left in the game. Holtz finished with 18 points and seven rebounds and she surpassed Ann Rysavy as LP’s all-time leading scorer when she scored an inside hoop in the first half.

Holtz had spent a lot of the summer working on her jump shot and that paid off on Saturday.

“I had a few shots before that, that weren’t good, but coach always says to shoot with confidence no matter what. I was in the gym enough recently were I thought I was going to knock it down,” Holtz said. “[Becoming LP’s all time leading scorer] is a good accomplishment, but it’s really a team accomplishment. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without assists from Courtney [Walter], Brooke [Walter] and Ann in the early years.”

LP head coach Justin Morris said that Holtz has put in a lot of time over the years to make herself a better player.

“She’s a kid that’s gotten better and better every year,” Morris said. “One of the thing she’s added to her game is the ability to shoot the ball. She’s always been a slasher and she’s learned to stretch the floor and that makes her a really tough kid to guard. She’s put more time in than anyone we have.”

LP forced 23 turnovers in the win, but it also committed 21 turnovers of its own. The Athletics (6-0 overall) struggled to keep up with the Mustangs (3-3 overall) full court pressure down the stretch.

“It’s good to see where you’re at as a team and measure yourself against the best,” Morris said. “We’ve got a lot of things we need to work on and we need to be a better basketball team. But at the end of the day, we found a way to win and we showed some resiliency.”

Brooke, who had 10 points and six steals, said that it’s tough to imitate what Maranatha does in practice and the only way to learn how to play against a team of their caliber is to actually get on the court against them. LP will have plenty of more competition this season as it will play a total of six ranked teams throughout the season.

“This is why we play basketball is to play teams like this. This is why we work hard in the summer,” Brooke said. “The atmosphere was crazy and it was a good win for us.”

Maranatha 24 32 — 56

LP 41 24 — 65

LP scoring: Sarah Holtz, 18; Courtney Walter, 12; Bethany Strouf, 10; Brooke Walter, 10; Kendal Truckenmiller, 7; free throws: 69 percent (15-for-22); rebounds: 32 (Truckenmiller, 8); turnovers: 21