MANSFIELD — It was gritty and gutty and everything Shelby fans have come to expect from their Whippets.
Shelby’s storybook run through the postseason came to an end Friday inside Pete Henry Gym, but not before the Whippets gave highly-regarded Columbus Bishop Hartley all it could handle. In the end, the Hawks earned a 42-31 win in the Division II regional championship game.
Hartley (20-6) advanced to next week’s state tournament at the University of Dayton and will play Kettering Alter at 8 p.m. Thursday in the semifinals. Alter beat Hamilton Badin 45-35 in the Springfield regional final Friday.
Shelby concludes one of the greatest seasons in program history at 27-1. The Whippets were the Associated Press Division II poll champs and came ever so close to reaching the Final Four for the first time since 1992.
“I’m really, really proud of the kids. They fought to the very end, that’s all I can ask for,” Shelby coach Natalie Lantz said. “They left it all on the court. If we’re going to go down, we leave it all on the court and they did.”
Friday’s showdown was a defensive battle from the onset. Hartley led 8-2 after the first quarter, before the Whippets trimmed the deficit to 10-7 at the half. The Hawks extended their advantage to 21-16 after three quarters, setting up a wild final period.
Shelby trimmed the deficit to 21-18 on an Audi Albert layup with 7:30 remaining, but Hartley responded with back-to-back buckets by Ella Brandewie, Hartley’s 6-foot-3 center, and junior sensation Kiki McElrath to make it 25-18 with 6:30 remaining.
Shelby’s Olivia Baker connected on a 3-pointer with 6:11 remaining to cut Hartley’s lead to 25-21. A layup from Hartley’s Lexi Cashwell pushed the advantage to 27-21, but a Sophie Niese layup made it 27-23 with 4:43 remaining.
It stayed that way until Brandewie, an Ohio State volleyball recruit, and McElrath struck again. Brandewie hit a layup in traffic with 3:20 remaining and McElrath connected on a tough transition bucket 20 seconds later to give the Hawks a 31-23 bulge.
Niese split a pair of free throws with 1:56 remaining to cut Hartley’s lead to 31-24. The Whippets were forced to foul and when McElrath misfired on the front end of a one-and-one, Shelby looked to be in business. It wasn’t to be, however, as Cashwell came up with a steal and layup and was fouled. She sank the ensuing free throw to complete the conventional three-point play and give the Hawks a 34-24 margin with 1:39 remaining.
Hartley sank 8 of 10 free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.
“This is special. It’s been 21 years for Hartley,” Hawks coach Donald Dennis said. “None of these kids were even born the last time we were here.
“I just kept telling them, ‘It’s not an invitational.’ You earn the right to play in this game and compete.”
McElrath scored a game-high 14 points, all coming in the second half. Brandewie had eight points and a game-high 14 rebounds, while Cashwell and Bella Parker scored eight points apiece.
Niese led the Whippets with nine points. Audi Albert added eight, while Haylee Baker had six. Olivia Baker swiped a team-best 10 rebounds.
Shelby connected on just 12 of 50 field goals attempts. The Hawks were 15-for-39 from the floor and 11-for-15 from the line.
“We left a lot of layups out there that, quite frankly, we should have made,” Lantz said. “Our defense was on fire … we just couldn’t score it tonight.
“This goes down as one of the best seasons in school history, whether we made the Final Four or not. We just didn’t finish the mission tonight.
“They should be proud because everybody is proud of them.”
