By Braden Campbell, Globe Correspondent

With 11 seconds left in overtime and the score knotted at 58 in Hopkinton yesterday, Medfield’s Natalie Dickinson stepped to the free throw line.

She and the Warriors were in unfamiliar territory. They had not trailed at halftime this season, let alone been pushed to overtime. She put up her first shot -- and missed.

“The biggest question coming in was, ‘How are we going to handle a close game?' " coach Mark Nickerson said. “Because we hadn’t had one coming in.”

Dickinson shot again, scoring, to put the Warriors up, 59-58. Hopkinton missed on its ensuing possession, with Medfield getting the rebound. After another foul, Lauren Petit stepped to the line, hitting one of two to complete the 60-58 Tri-Valley League win, pushing the team to 13-0 on the season. Hopkinton fell to 8-4.

The Warriors started strong, leading by 3 points after the first quarter. But by halftime, they trailed by the same margin. By the start of the fourth quarter, Hopkinton had increased that lead to 10.

Senior captain Hillary Collins scored 8 of her 11 points in the fourth quarter, helping the Warriors tie the game and send it to overtime.

“I just wanted to have good possessions offensively, and we wanted to be smart defensively,” Nickerson said of the extra period. “Both teams were in the bonus, we wanted to play good aggressive defense, but we didn’t want to put them on the line with the clock stopped.”

In the extra period, Medfield allowed just 4 points in as many minutes.

Hopkinton has been bolstered by the return of Alee Leteria, out with an injury. She scored 21 points and grabbed five rebounds against the Warriors.

“Alee Leteria has been out for most of the season, she’s come back for the last couple games,” Nickerson said. “She certainly looked 100 percent -- if she wasn’t, I don’t want to see her at 100 percent.”

Nickerson said he considered this game one of his teams’ biggest obstacles, and should help prepare his team for the upcoming state tournament.

“I thought they would be one of the best teams, the toughest challenges," he said. “This was a great win for us. It’s good to go in the right direction, playing tough teams into the state tournament.”

Dickinson finished with 8 points and six rebounds. Petit (8 points, 10 steals, 6 rebounds) and Jen Narlee (8 points, 14 rebounds) also put in solid performances.