On Friday, March 6th, at Zanesville High School, the Lady Dawgs brought the house to their feet as they pounded out the win in a nail-biting 45 – 43 final tally over No. 1 state-ranked Circleville in the last four seconds of overtime to claim the Regional Title and an entry into the Final Four.
Both teams were hot on defense and it showed as quarter score totals were some of the lowest of the season. Circleville took an early 6 – 0 lead over the Scotties and the Ladies continued to play catch-up throughout the period that ended with Lady Tigers ahead 8 – 4.
The Lady Dawgs rallied in the second quarter to catch Circleville and then move on to a lead late in the quarter which they held onto until the halftime intermission when they headed to the locker room up 20 – 17 against the Lady Tigers.
After the break, Tri-Valley really put on the heat as they pumped up their lead at one point to reach 31 – 18. Circleville however, had a rally of their own and narrowed that deficit to 31 – 24 going into the 4th quarter.
What should have been the final quarter of the game saw the Lady Tigers push their offense through the gaps to cover the lead that Tri-Valley had to the point of tying up the score in the final seconds at 38 points each leading into overtime.
Overtime was essentially a game of free-throws as each team ended up at the free-throw line more often than not, and the Scotties prevailed with the last two free throws from #2 Lexi Howe giving the Lady Dawgs the advantage at 45 – 43 with only 4 seconds left in the game.
Tri-Valley moved on to a Thursday, March 12th afternoon game at St. John’s Arena in Columbus against undefeated Napoleon, however, the game was postponed indefinitely just moments before warmups began, do to Coronavirus concerns and an upcoming press conference from the Governor.
