SHELBY — Thirty-two minutes weren’t enough for second-seeded Colonel Crawford and No. 3 Clear Fork on Thursday.
The Eagles rallied from an eight-point third-quarter deficit to force overtime, then held on for a wild 39-33 win over the Colts in the early game of a Division III district semifinal doubleheader at Shelby High School.
“It was going to be a dogfight and we’ve been in plenty,” Crawford coach Zac Bauer said. “We’ve been in a lot of slugfests and it was one tonight.
“We knew Clear Fork was a high-quality team that had a high basketball IQ. Our girls never wavered.”
The Colts (17-8) led 19-14 at the half and 22-14 early in the third quarter when senior sharpshooter Annika Labaki connected on three free throws after being fouled on a 3-point attempt. The Eagles (19-5) began to chip away at Clear Fork’s lead thanks to seven straight points by Lexi Duré. The sophomore guard knocked down a baseline jumper before connecting on her second 3-pointer of the evening. She then sank a pair of free throws to cut Clear Fork’s lead to 22-21.
A conventional three-point play by Mira Holt gave the Eagles a 24-22 lead. A Holt layup followed by another Duré bucket capped a 14-0 Crawford run and gave the Eagles a 28-22 advantage late in the third.
A Labaki 3-pointer and a Kylie Belcher layup cut Crawford’s lead to 28-27 going to the fourth.
Layups by Lillian Weikle and Belcher gave Clear Fork a 31-28 advantage in the fourth but Gabby Roston’s three-point play with 2:31 remaining pulled the Eagles even at 31-31. It would remain that way into overtime.
Holt split a pair of free throws with 1:55 left in the four-minute extra session to give the Eagles a 32-31 lead, but a layup by Brinley Barnett with 1:33 to play put the Colts ahead 33-32. A steal and run-out layup by Allison Weithman put Colonel Crawford back in the lead at 34-33 with 54 seconds remaining. The Colts turned the ball over again on their next trip and Roston knocked down a pair of free throws to put Crawford in front 36-33.
“When you get to late-February and early-March every possession matters,” Clear Fork coach Scott Sellers said.
The Colts’ last best chance came when Labaki, the program’s all-time leader in made 3-pointers, launched a potential game-tying triple under heavy pressure from near the top of the key. The shot was off-line, however, and Duré grabbed the rebound and was immediately fouled. She connected on both free throws to seal it with 7.6 seconds remaining.
“They played a really solid game,” Sellers said. “It was two teams who are kind of mirror images. Both teams had a chance to win late and, as a coach that’s all you can ask for.
“Crawford played as good of a game as they have played in the last month and they deserved to win.”
Duré led the Eagles with 16 points. Holt added 10 and Roston had eight.
“Lexi Duré is a special player,” Bauer said. “There’s not a whole lot of girls in our program who put in more time individually than Lexi Duré. She deserves every bit of this.”
Labaki paced the Colts with 17 points, including four 3-pointers. Belcher had seven.
“She had a pretty efficient 17,” Sellers said of Labaki. “She didn’t have a lot of room to shoot and when she did, she made baskets.”
Colonel Crawford will play top-seeded Margaretta for a district title and a berth in next week’s regional tournament at 6 p.m. Saturday at Shelby. The Polar Bears dispatched No. 4 Upper Sandusky 49-22 in Thursday’s late game.