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ORANGE — Rosary’s girls basketball team has been retooling this winter with players learning new roles and fresh offensive schemes.

Some things, however, remain the same.

The Royals still have plenty of championship-caliber composure with veteran coach Rich Yoon on the sideline.

And they still have Orange Lutheran’s number … for now.

Allison Clarke sank two free throws 5.1 seconds left Tuesday to help rally Rosary past the Lancers 53-52 in a Trinity League clash between potential CIF-SS Division 1 opponents at Orange Lutheran High.

Rosary (18-5,  4-1), ranked third in Orange County and 10th in Division 1, watched a contested 3-pointer by the Lancers’ Madi Bogan bounce off the side of the rim at the buzzer before celebrating an 11th consecutive victory against Orange Lutheran (18-6, 3-3), ranked fourth in the county and 13th in Division 1.

“I don’t want to play again but eventually we might have to,” Yoon said of the Lancers, who last beat the Royals in 2016-17. “They have such good pieces. It’s a hard matchup for us everywhere.”

“They have beaten us in a while, and I feel like this year was their year,” the coach added, “but our kids came through.”

How it ended: @Rosarybball holds off @OLuGBB 53-52 in a thriller! @ocvarsity @OLu_Athletics @rosarysports pic.twitter.com/lB9tdd0tho

— Dan Albano (@ocvarsityguy) January 25, 2023

One working theory is that the top eight ranked teams in Division 1 will get pulled into the Open Division bracket for the playoffs, leaving Rosary and Orange Lutheran as major title contenders when the playoffs begin next month.

Rosary played in the Open Division playoffs last season but is a new-look group this season. The Royals feature only two returning starters in Clarke and Ava Dominguez, and both have new roles.

Clarke, a junior wing, is now the go-to scorer, replacing O.C. player of the year Kaylee Byon, now at Utah Valley. Clarke delivered again, scoring 16 of her game-high 19 points in the second half to rally Rosary, which trailed by 13 points in the first period.

Mya Barnes aided the comeback by scoring 15 points off the bench. The sophomore, who is being asked handle the ball more and attack with her dribble, didn’t start because of illness.

Barnes gave Rosary its first lead at 48-46 with a jumper from the elbow of the key with 3:42 left in the fourth.

Dominguez, a post who can hit 3-pointers, scored all 12 of her points in the first half. The senior mostly played on the opposite side of the floor from Clarke in her role as a perimeter threat.

Rosary also has a new starting point guard in senior Mary Larson, who had four assists.

“We’ve really coming on, showing everyone that we can do it,” Clarke said, “(and) we’re going to be own (team) this year.”

The Royals’ composure looked familiar. They won state titles in 2017 and 2019 under Yoon, and had a chance at another wiped away by the pandemic.

“(Our) composure remained,” Yoon said of his team’s rally Tuesday. “We did some things to adjust our defense with different matchups. … I think the biggest part was taking (Shea) Joko away.”

“Everyone was able to really relax themselves and really learn not to panic,” Barnes added.

Orange Lutheran took a 52-51 lead on two foul shots by Bogan with 13 seconds left. The Westmont-bound Bogan finished with a team-high 18 points, four steals and a block as she shined on her senior night.

She made four 3-pointers in the first half and helped Orange Lutheran open a 22-9 lead late in first period.

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Taliyah McFerson added 10 points for the Lancers, who lost 59-55 to Rosary in the first round of league.

“We never quit,” Orange Lutheran interim coach Alex Helmage said. “We just got to play a little bit smarter offensively knowing the time and the clock, knowing shot selections. That’s something we got to continue to get better at.”