Rachel Allard and her Alvirne teammates walk off the court Tuesday night after upsetting Goffstown 50-49 in the Division I playoffs. Allard hit three free throws with time expired to give the Broncos the win. (Photo by Joe Marchilena/NH-HighSchoolSports.com)

GOFFSTOWN – Rachel Allard was not happy with the way she played in the Alvirne High School girls basketball team’s regular-season finale against Goffstown.

So when the two teams met for the second-straight game Tuesday night in the Division I playoffs, the senior had a chance at redemption, and did she ever get some.

Allard finished with 19 points, none bigger than her three free throws with time expired, the last of which rattled around the rim before falling through to give No. 11 Alvirne a 50-49 win over No. 6 Goffstown in the preliminary round.

It’s the first postseason win for the Broncos since 2017 and sends them to the quarterfinals, where they’ll take on No. 3 Londonderry, which beat No. 14 Nashua North in opening round, at 6 p.m. Friday in Londonderry.

Allard was 7 of 9 at the line and had two big 3-pointers in the third quarter to help lead Alvirne’s comeback. Ella Hartson added 10 points and Courtney Anderson had eight points before fouling out late.

“I couldn’t be more proud of this kid,” Alvirne coach Frank Girginis said of Allard. “She was pretty upset about her performance on Friday (against Goffstown). Knowing where she’s come from, her DNA, I knew she would bounce back. She had the guts to knock down all three (free throws).”

In last Friday’s 36-30 loss to Goffstown, Allard had just one point, going 1 of 5 at the line.

In this one, Alvirne (10-9) trailed by 10 points at the end of the first quarter and 11 at halftime, before coming back to take the lead going into the fourth. But after going up 41-38, the Broncos went more than four minutes without scoring and Goffstown (13-6) used a 10-2 run to go up by five with 96 seconds left.

“We have an internal motto, it’s walk by faith, not by sight,” Girginis said. “I kept telling them throughout the game, we weren’t playing our best, but we’re going to win the game at the end.”

On a night where the Broncos shot just 53.5 percent at the free throw line, they made enough of them late to fulfill their coach’s prophecy. With 1:20 to play, Sadie Rogers was fouled on a 3-point attempt and made two of three free throws to cut the Grizzlies’ lead to 48-45.

Goffstown tried to run out the clock and force Alvirne – which had only been called for one foul in the quarter – to foul. Instead, the Grizzlies turned the ball over and Hartson sent a pass ahead for Anderson.

The pass was too long, though, and Anderson was forced to throw the ball back in bounds while falling out. It just happened that Julia Adams was right there to grab it and lay it in, making it a one-point game with under a minute remaining.

Alvirne finally started fouling with 14.8 seconds to go, getting four as quick as possible and finally sending Goffstown’s Keeleigh Capps to the line for two shots with 3.6 remaining.

Capps missed the first one, but made the second, giving Alvirne a chance to get the ball in play with the clock stopped. Allard was waiting for the ball behind the 3-point line, just in front of the Broncos’ bench, for a final shot.

“Before (Capps) was shooting, (Girginis) had me go in the corner,” Allard said. “Lexi (Floyd) was supposed to set a screen, but obviously, nothing ever goes the way you plan. We had two seconds on the clock, so I had to throw it up.”

As she did, her arm was hit by Morghan Dodge on the follow through, and with no time left, Allard went to the line to try to win the game.

“I know they’re all watching me,” Allard said of what was going through her mind. “The whole crowd had eyes on me. I just believed I could make them and knocked them down.”

When the third one found its way through, the Broncos swarmed Allard, while the Grizzlies looked on in disbelief.

“Those are the things that can happen when the game is close,” Goffstown coach Steve Largy said. “There’s a million things that could have happened before that play that makes that play a non-factor.”

Goffstown’s Maggie Sasso led all scorers with 22 points, 17 of which came in the second half. Capps and Ella Malouin each added eight points, as they helped the Grizzlies stay in front in the first half while Sasso was in foul trouble.

Goffstown led 16-6 after one quarter and took a 29-18 lead into halftime.

“I was impressed with how we came out of the gate,” Largy said. “Probably one of the best first quarters. Couldn’t start Meredith (Winterburn) because of an injury and Maggie gets two early fouls, so now we’re relying on other people. We always said the strength of this team was our depth and they really responded. Just impressed with how we did in the first half.”

But Alvirne opened the second half with a 13-2 run, tying the game at 31 on a 3 by Allard. With 1:19 left in the quarter, Allard hit another 3 to give the Broncos a 36-34 lead, their first of the game.

A transition basket by Hartson made it 41-38 with 6:05 remaining, but Goffstown took control after that and regained the lead.

“It comes out of them being aggressive and going to the rim,” Largy said. “We were a little late to respond to that. We responded and dug ourselves out of the hole, but you’ve got to play with the same level of intensity.”

But it was Alvirne that was able to find that again and pull out a win.

“My message to them was don’t lose track of what we have to do,” Girginis said. “We have plenty of time and we’ll take it one possession at a time. This team has responded all year long, and we’ve believed, it’s not over until it’s over.”