Photo/JEFF HARRISON BELLAIRE’S Allie Ault is guarded by Meadowbrook’s Taylor Sichina (4) and Kaylynn Gombeda (20) during Wednesday’s game in Byesville.

BYESVILLE – The eighth-seeded Bellaire Lady Reds didn’t shoot well and turned the ball over a lot, but still gave themselves a chance to pull it out in the fourth quarter only to run out of time and energy as fifth-seeded Meadowbrook claimed a 44-37 victory in the opening round of the OHSAA Division III Sectional Tournament on Wednesday.

Bellaire trailed by as many as 17 points in the first half, but kept chipping away in the turnover-filled contest. Trailing by a dozen, 39-27, early in the fourth period, the Lady Reds got three-pointers from Allie Ault and Rhyan O’Grady and hoops by Zara Harveth and Eliana Mason for a 10-0 run that narrowed the gap to two, 39-37, with just under four minutes to play.

A “triple” by Kenli Norman ended the Lady Colts’ dry spell and Kaylynn Gombeda followed with a close-range goal at the two-minute mark to push the lead to seven, 44-37, and neither team scored the rest of the way thanks to a rash of miscues.

“We told them at halftime you only get to do this for so long,” said Bellaire coach John Farrier, “This is it, so you have to make every second count and I’m proud of how we played with more urgency in the second half. We came out in the fourth quarter and made a push, but just didn’t have enough to overtake them.”

Meadowbrook led 15-9 after one quarter behind five points by Karly Launder and four from Taylor Sichina, with all of Bellaire’s points coming via long distance – Ault with two “threes” and O’Grady with one.

The Lady Reds went scoreless over the first seven minutes of round two, and the Lady Colts used a 12-0 surge including two “treys” by Maddie May to make it 26-9 before Bellaire closed the half with a “three” by O’Grady and a bucket by Lizzy McAninch to cut the lead to 26-14 at the intermission.

Five points each from McAninch and Mason helped Bellaire to a 13-11 edge in the third chapter, leaving the visitors down by 10 entering the final frame.

“We’ve only had a couple games where we’ve put four quarters together,” related Farrier. “That’s been our Achilles’ heel all year, and we had too many costly turnovers tonight, especially early.

“They do a great job with their trap and being aggressive at both ends,” he said of the Lady Colts.

Meadowbrook (15-8) showed excellent scoring balance. Norman and Launder led the way with 11 tallies each while May and Gombeda both had eight. Launder also contributed six rebounds and Norman had five.

Bellaire (12-11) was led by O’Grady and Ault with 12 and nine respectively, with all of their points coming on three-pointers. McAninch and Mason closed with seven apiece. Harveth grabbed seven caroms and Mason had six.

Meadowbrook – which posted its first tournament win since 2011 – connected on 17-of-41 field goal attempts; 5-of-17 three-pointers and 5-of-9 free throws while Bellaire hit 14-of-40 floor shots; 8-of-24 “treys” and 1-of-5 charity tosses. The Colts led off the glass, 29-24, and had 24 turnovers to 23 for the Reds.

Bellaire, which finished the year with only seven players, loses just one to graduation.

“Lizzy McAninch is our only senior and she’s given us everything she had for four years,” said Farrier. “She has gotten so much better since the eighth grade and we’ll miss her, but we bring back a lot of experience and, hopefully, we’ll learn from our mistakes this season and get better.”

Meadowbrook will now play at No. 4 seed West Muskingum, which routed No. 15 seed Edison by a 76-20 score in another first round clash, on Saturday at 1 p.m.