BEALLSVILLE — Beallsville saved its best for last Thursday night.

The Blue Devils scored the final 11 points of the game and shook off a sluggish start in pulling away from Frontier, 41-23, in an Ohio Division IV girls’ basketball sectional semifinal inside Beallsville High School.

Ashley Howell and Ashlie Louden — Beallsville’s 1-2 power punch — scored 17 and 12 points, respectively, as the Blue Devils, seeded second in the East District, moved into Saturday afternoon’s sectional final opposite Shenandoah. The Zeps, seeded sixth, earned a trip to Monroe County via a 54-48 victory against No. 10 River. Tip is set for 2 p.m. The survivor of that game advances to the district semifinal Wednesday night vs. the winner of the Fort Frye-Toronto tilt.

Beallsville hadn’t played in 12 days when they topped Cameron for its second consecutive OVAC championship. And the Blue Devils looked ragged early, especially on offense. But as the game wore down, Beallsville, playing with just six players, clamped down on the Cougars, found its groove offensively and improved to 20-3.

“This is way too long of a break,” Beallsville head coach Tori Jarrett said smiling. “I wish we had some games in between. But (Frontier) probably had the same situation, too. That’s probably why we both looked a little sluggish at the beginning.”

The Blue Devils jumped out to a 5-0 lead in an opening quarter, but they didn’t get much more as Frontier’s triangle-and-2 stymied any offensively momentum the hosts tried to build.

“We were pretty sure they were going to go into that,” Jarrett said. “But we just needed to calm down and run our offense. We just had to be patient.”

That’s what the Cougars (6-17) were early. Their lineup, which consisted of five freshmen in the starting five, exercised great restraint in the early going, meticulously looking for the right shot opportunities.

The approached paid off, somewhat, as Frontier stayed close, pulling to within three — 11-8 — early in the second quarter on a Jamison Schmidt putback. From there, though, Beallsville went on a 7-2 run to end the half to lead, 18-10.

“We came in with a good gameplan,” Frontier head coach Mike Cisler said. “We missed some good opportunities with shots and some free throws.”

The Cougars hung tough early in the third.

Kara Ramsey, who finished with a team-best nine points, drained a three to start the half, bringing the Cougars to within five. Frontier’s deficit stayed that way until late in the quarter when Jaycee Huffman and Howell hit back-to-back buckets — Howell’s at the buzzer — to stretch the Blue Devils’ lead to nine.

Howell, who was limited to four points during the first 24 minutes, found her stride in the fourth, hitting a pair of threes early in period, the second which started the final scoring burst.

“We just kind of ran out of gas,” Cisler admitted. “Their seniors took over. Ashley and Ashlie, they’re very good players and good kids. I have the utmost respect for Coach Jarrett and what she’s done with those kids.

“I knew at some point (Louden) was gonna make a run, and that’s what she did.”

Jarrett praised Louden and Howell, along with the rest of her team, for working on defensively on a night where the offense just wasn’t there.

“Postseason has to be about defense,” she said. “We have to hold teams to a certain amount of points in case our offense doesn’t do that well.

“I want our offense to look better (Saturday). I think our defense was fine (Thursday), but our offense has to improve.”

NOTE

Tickets for Saturday’s sectional final will be available today until 3 p.m. in the office of Beallsville athletic director Delmas Moore at Beallsville High School.