Photos by Steven Wright | Greene County News
Bellbrook senior Alayna Meyer (4) drives to the basket during Wednesday’s Division I sectional tournament game against Springfield. The Golden Eagles lost 57-55 in overtime.
Bellbrook sophomore Emmie Sears started in place of Taylor Scohy and scored four points, including making the tying free throw to send the game to overtime.
Bellbrook junior Eva Koesters put her team ahead for the first time with a pair of makes at the free throw line during the third quarter.
Scoring eight points, Bellbrook junior Jordan Frantz was one of the team’s key contributors all season.
TROY — Bellbrook had many opportunities to take some sort of control of the game, but came up empty on most of them.
A final miss in the final seconds of overtime ended the season for the Golden Eagles as the No. 3-seed in the Division I Southwest District sectional tournament was upset by No. 12 Springfield 57-55 Wednesday at Troy High School.
Bellbrook trailed by two in the final 30 seconds of the extra period and avoided a larger deficit when Springfield missed a pair of free throws. The Golden Eagles called timeout with 16 seconds left to set up its play to try and tie the score. Emmie Sears and Alayna Meyer both had chances at the basket, but neither of their shots went down. Springfield grabbed the rebound and dribbled out the final seconds as their bench exploded onto the court in celebration.
“It’s frustrating for the kids and it’s frustrating for everybody,” Bellbrook head coach Jason Tincher said. “We were just trying to fight through everything and we just never seemed to get all the way back in the game.”
Bellbrook was without Taylor Scohy, the team’s leading scorer and reigning SWBL Player of the Year, who suffered an injury during the first round win against Miamisburg.
“In two days we had kid learn Taylor’s spot and try to cover for her 20 points a game which isn’t easy,” Tincher said. “I’m proud of them as they got us to position to go to overcome.”
The Golden Eagles overcame a 12-point deficit in the first round win without her, and nearly did so again on Wednesday.
Springfield led for the entirety of the first half and as large as 25-13 midway through the second quarter. Bellbrook used full court pressure after every made basket during the game, but it really began to rattle Springfield after halftime as the Golden Eagles grabbed its first lead at 35-34 just under four minutes into the third quarter. As quickly as Bellbrook seemed to be taking control, it was Springfield which snatched momentum right back as they led 43-40 after the third.
During the final six minutes of regulation, neither team led by more than two points.
Both teams struggled to make shots around the rim and missed several free throws meaning neither was able to take advantage of the other’s miscues.
Springfield didn’t score for the final 2:32 of the fourth quarter, but Bellbrook was only able to make two free throws. The second came by Sears with 14 seconds left on the front end of two shots to tie the score at 48. She missed the second, and Springfield racing to the other end of the floor had its final attempt wildly miss the rim to send the game to overtime.
Springfield scored the first five points of OT. Lauren Fabrick, who led Bellbrook with 19 points, fouled out with 1:42 left. Meyer, scoring 12 points in her final game, hit a three to pull Bellbrook back within one, but Springfield immediately responded with a layup that proved to be the winner.
Bellbrook’s four seniors finish their careers with 77 wins, including a 43-3 mark in the SWBL and four straight division titles.
“They were perfect role models for the younger kids,” Tincher said. “They did it all right, they were great teammates and hard workers. They showed and led by example.”
Springfield advances to play No. 8 Centerville on Saturday.
Contact Steven Wright at 937-502-4498 and follow on X (formerly Twitter) @Steven_Wright_.
