WILLARD, Ohio — Ontario’s upset bid came up just short.
Third-seeded Bellevue erased a four-point deficit in the final 2:02 and escaped with a 48-47 win over the fifth-seeded Warriors in the opening game of a Division II district semifinal doubleheader Thursday at Robert L. Haas Gymnasium.
The Lady Red (20-4) trailed 47-43 with just over two minutes remaining before Jenna Strayer connected on a long 3-pointer to cut Ontario’s lead to 47-46. Lauren Turner collected a Strayer miss on Bellevue’s next trip and her putback with 1:37 to play gave Bellevue a 48-47 lead.
The Lady Red left the door open for Ontario (16-8), missing the front end of two one-and-one situations with less than 20 seconds to go. The Warriors had to the ball out of bounds under the Bellevue basket with 2.9 seconds remaining. NaShail Shelby’s long inbounds pass to Amanda Nething was partially deflected. Nething gathered the loose ball, but her desperation 3-point attempt was off the mark as time expired.
“We made a decent pass and they just got a little bit of a tip on it,” Ontario coach Sarah Krichbaum said. “But that’s not what the game came down to. I think if we play a little bit better of a first quarter … I thought we were tentative in the first quarter.”
Nightmare Start: Bellevue scored the first 10 points and led 19-2 after the first quarter. The Warriors were just 1 of 6 from the field and struggled against the Lady Red’s pressure.
“We were a little bit anxious offensively,” Krichbaum said. “We tried to score quick off one pass instead of running through our offense.”
Ontario flipped the script in the second, outscoring Bellevue 18-3. The Warriors connected on five 3-pointers in the period and trailed 22-20 at the half.
“We were up 19-2 after the first quarter and we told the girls, ‘This game is not over,’ ” Bellevue coach Kory Santoro said. “We need to keep the hammer down and we did not do that. They came out and hit some 3-point shots and things snow-balled from there.”
Back-and-Forth: Ontario tied the game early in the third, but Bellevue went on a 7-0 run to take a 31-24 lead with 5:23 to play in the period. Ontario responded with an 11-2 run and took a 35-33 lead — its first of the evening — on a Shelby layup with 2:22 remaining.
Bellevue led 39-38 after three, but Ontario opened the fourth with a 9-4 run. Emily Yeager’s steal and layup gave the Warriors a 47-43 lead, setting up the wild finish.
“I thought we played a pretty solid second half,” Krichbaum said. “We had a chance to win.”
Leaders: Shelby led Ontario with 16 points. Yeager had 14, while Madeline Collins added nine.
Strayer topped Bellevue with 12 points. Casey Santoro had 11 and Payton Vogel added nine.
Next: Bellevue will play for its fourth consecutive district title at 7 p.m. Saturday against Norwalk. The Truckers beat Shelby 71-56 in Thursday’s nightcap.
