COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Alexis Dobbs scored eight of her 12 points in the last 1:46 of overtime — all on free throws — to help Shaker Heights Hathaway Brown hold off Lima Bath 68-58 and earn its second straight trip to the Division II state championship game.
Hathaway Brown (22-4) won its 10th game in a row, avoiding a major collapse after building a 16-point first-half lead.
Angela Groves scored 25 points and first-team All-Ohioan Mylan Woods had 17 despite heavy foul trouble and persistent leg cramps for the 10th-ranked Blazers, who lost to Warsaw River View in last year's title game in their only previous trip to the state's final four.
Rachel Mauk had 18 points and Nicki Hopkins and second-team all-stater Stefanie Mauk each had 12 for No. 3-ranked Bath (24-2), which trailed 19-8 after a quarter and by seven points at halftime and through three periods.
The Wildkittens, who outscored the Blazers 19-12 in the final period, had two good shots at winning in the final seconds of regulation. With the score tied at 56, Rachel Mauk, Stefanie Mauk's sister, drove the lane and put up a shot in traffic with 5 seconds left that missed the mark, with Alanna Guy rebounding for Hathaway Brown. But Guy was pressured, lost her balance and was called for traveling with 2.6 seconds left.
Bath inbounded to Stefanie Mauk, who drove to the right elbow. Her hurried shot with a hand in her face came up short.
Hathaway Brown then dominated the extra 4-minute period, never trailing after Groves scored inside and Dobbs followed a Bath miss with two foul shots with 1:46 left for a 60-56 lead.
Dobbs was 8-for-9 at the line in the overtime.
Bath came into the game as the top 3-point shooting team in state history, connecting on a record 230 3-pointers and shooting 32 percent behind the arc. But their long-distance marksmanship failed them down the stretch. They missed all eight 3-point attempts in the overtime, finishing 11-of-36.
The first half was built around two major momentum swings.
Relying on their strength inside, the Blazers dominated the first 10 minutes, building a 29-13 lead. Groves outscored the Wildkittens by herself, with 15 points in the opening 9 1/2 minutes.
But all of a sudden Bath's defensive pressure started forcing turnovers and the turnovers turned into transition baskets. Outrebounded 17-2 heading into the final 6 minutes of the second quarter, the Wildkittens regrouped to hold the Blazers scoreless while running off the last nine points of the half to cut the deficit to 29-22 at the break.
They still trailed 44-37 heading into the final period before finding the range outside, taking their first lead on Hopkins' NBA-length 3 with 4:49 left in regulation, 49-48. The teams traded points until the wild closing seconds.
Bath was making its fifth appearance in the state tournament, winning the title in 1987.
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