jmetcalfe@delphosherald.com

SPENCERVILLE — Shawnee got it rolling from long range Tuesday night versus Elida and never really stopped, eliminating the Lady Bulldogs 65-61 in Division II girls sectional action at Spencerville High School.

In the nightcap, Wapakoneta ousted St. Marys Memorial 53-31.

Despite Shawnee (10-13) and its deep-shooting prowess (15-of-31 from downtown for 48.4%), the Lady Bulldogs (8-15) stayed with their Western Buckeye League colleague to the very end. After battling to a 38-all tie, in which the Indians were 10-of-16 from 3-point land, the third period continued a back-and-forth trend, with both units taking turns with the lead. The Bulldogs held their last lead of the night — and, as it turned out, the 2012-13 season — at 45-44 on a deuce by Kylie Downton (14 markers) midway through the stanza. Shawnee retook it back on a Britt Lauck (17 markers, including 4 bombs) deuce shortly after. That jump-started a closing 11-5 spurt, including a 3-ball from the right wing by Rachel Evans (12 counters on 4 treys) 2.1 ticks before the horn, for a 55-50 edge.

In Tribe kept up that surge into the final period, building a 62-53 edge on a 3-ball by Lauck at 4:43. Back came the Lady Bulldogs. Senior Osha Owens (14 markers) hit a 12-foot baseliner at 4:29 to start the rally and when Torie McAdams (11 points) hit a fourth-chance basket at 55 ticks, they were within 65-61. However, despite forcing two more turnovers down the stretch, the Bulldogs could not convert on the other end.

“We expected them to shoot a lot of threes; we just didn’t expect them to shoot 50 percent. They have so many shooters, even some we really didn’t expect to shoot them; our scouting reports told us that,” Elida co-coach Elise Jenkins noted. “We just couldn’t cover them all adequately in our defense. They were stepping into them very well and getting a lot of open ones.”