After erupting for 12 unanswered goals in a rout of Framingham last week, the Milton girls’ hockey team faced a formidable challenge Wednesday night in a Bay State Conference home game against undefeated Needham at Ulin Rink.

Just a little more than two minutes into the game, it looked as if the Wildcats were still on a tear when junior Julia Scannell came up with a turnover behind Needham’s net and found senior Elena Kapolis in the slot. Kapolis wristed it past goaltender Melissa Strauss for her 14th goal of the season, giving the Wildcats a 1-0 lead at 12:56.

It wound up being the only scoring highlight for No. 14 Milton (6-2-1) as the ninth-ranked Rockets (9-0-1) roared back to score a 5-1 victory.

“They scored a really nice goal very early,’’ said Needham coach Allisyn Furano. “Rather than panicking, we just played the way we play.’’

On its third power-play opportunity of the night, Needham broke through and never looked back as senior defender Madison Michals backhanded a rebound past sophomore goalie Mary O’Connell to tie the game, 1-1, at 6:36 of the second period.

After spending much of the second on the offensive, that’s exactly how Needham opened the third period when sophomore Gracie Bruno found a seam through the Wildcats’ defense and found the back of the net.

Less than a minute later, junior Meghan McQuillen scored a back-breaking goal to give Needham a 3-0 lead.

Needham wasn’t done, as sophomore Elizabeth Phalen tallied twice in the final frame to propel the undefeated Rockets to first place in the Bay State Carey division.

“We play in a league where there’s not many games you can afford a letdown,’’ Furano said. “We know that going into every Bay State game. Each team has good goaltending, good coaching. There’s rarely a game we can relax.’’

Braintree 2, Wellesley 2 — The Wamps (5-1-1) battled back from a two-goal deficit to force a tie against the Raiders (5-2-3). Freshman Abby Holland’s two goals, including the tying goal with 4:07 to play, led Braintree.

Hingham 1, Medway 1 — Gabriella Airosus scored for Medway/Ashland with four minutes remaining to force a tie. Julianna Lynch had the lone goal for the Hingham.

Beverly 7, Burlington 1 — Senior forward Izzy Primack notched a hat trick along with three assists in a dominant victory for the Panthers (10-0-1).

Westwood 10, Latin Academy 0 — Senior Aino Somiska and sophomore Quinn Dyson each notched their first varsity goals for the Wolverines (8-3-1).

Boys’ hockey

BC High 4, St. John’s Prep 0 — With junior Danny O’Connell recording a goal and an assist and sophomore Luke Garrity stopping all 18 shots he faced, the sixth-ranked Eagles (7-1-2, 1-1-2 Catholic Conference) earned their first league victory of the season, blanking the Prep (3-4-2) at UMass-Boston.

Senior forward James Sexton struck first for BC High midway through the first period.

The play began on a two-on-one break when O’Connell sped down the far side of the ice before ripping a shot on Prep’s Shane O’Brien that the netminder steered aside. However, O’Connell darted behind the net quickly, snagging the loose puck and feeding it through O’Brien to Sexton, who tapped it into the open net.

BC High was quick to double its lead when, a few moments later, senior Sean McDonough corralled a deflected puck and rifled it past goaltender Shane O’Brien. O’Connell added a goal in the final minute of the second period for a 3-0 cushion.

The junior forward skated down the near side of the Prep zone with 18.9 seconds remaining in the frame and fired a shot past O’Brien’s glove.

“We just played the way we’re supposed to play,’’ said BC High coach John Flaherty. “We played with our speed, we played with our size, we made the puck dangerous when it was around the cage . . . we got back to the basics.’’

Burlington 5, Stoneham 3 — Coach Bob Conceison, who was at Malden Catholic before starting a 30-year run with Burlington, was unaware he was closing in on a victory milestone. “I didn’t even realize it was my 400th,’’ Conceison said. “I think most important is the consistency that it shows. I’ve been in Burlington for 30 years and we have had a very consistent program. I’m very proud of that.’’

Boys’ basketball

Brighton 92, Cathedral 72 — Senior guard Jordan Galloway had 17 points and 10 assists as the Bengals closed the game on a 23-8 run.

O’Bryant 84, Cardinal Spellman 79 — Sophomore guard Rivaldo Soars had 29 points, 10 rebounds, and 7 assists in the Tigers’ victory.

Charlestown 77, West Roxbury 39 — Jose Garcia netted 14 points and had four assists to help propel the Townies (7-5).

Thayer 79, Roxbury Latin 73 — Javaughn Edmonds netted a game-high 35 points to lift the Tigers.

Nobles 72, Middlesex 42 — Junior forward Conor Gibson netted 17 points to propel the Bulldogs (10-3).

Saugus 71, Lynn Tech 46 — Haris Behremovic netted 20 points while Demetri Filaretos added another 18 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Sachems (4-7).

Girls’ basketball

Thayer 56, Phillips Andover 24 — Sophomore guard Sabrina Zeghibe scored a game-high 13 points to lift the Tigers (4-6).

Beaver Country Day 66, Portsmouth Abbey 47 — Junior Maddie Mullin netted a game-high 32 points in the win.

Scituate 62, Rockland 49 — Melanie Stewart netted 21 points to lead the Sailors.

Everett 47, Marblehead 34 — Senior Naomi Dottin put up 20 points to lead the Crimson (4-5).

Classical hires coach

Lynn Classical named Brian Vaughan, a Lynn English graduate who coached at South Boston last fall and starred at Northeastern, as its varsity football coach, replacing Tim Phelps.

David Souza and Brandon Blom contributed to this report. For more highlights, go to bostonglobe.com/schools.