ZANESVILLE — Big Red’s record-setting girls basketball team fought to the very end. Unfortunately, though, their dream season came to an end Saturday.

After trailing by as many as 12 points, Steubenville rallied all the way back to tie the Division III East/Southeast District Championship in the final minute.

Chilicothe Unioto, though, scored the final four points to survive for a 55-51 victory inside Zanesville High School’s Winland Gymnasium.

“The girls played hard, we knew it was going to be a battle coming in,” Big Red head coach Angie Forte said. “They got an early jump on us, but the girls fought so hard to get back in it. We had some opportunities, but things didn’t go our way. They played very hard, we just came out on the short end of it.

“I’m very proud of their effort, they could have folded at multiple points but they didn’t. They did not quit, not even down 12 points, they just kept fighting.”

Big Red, the top seed in the East District, finishes one of the best seasons in program history at 22-2, having won the OVAC Class 5A title and set the school record for wins in a season.

“This was a phenomenal season, there’s nothing for these young ladies to hang their heads about,” Forte said. “They can walk away from this game knowing they fought to the very end and left it all out there. I’m proud of their effort and resilience.”

After Big Red, which was down seven going to the fourth quarter and behind by eight with less than four minutes to go, drew even for the first time since midway through the opening quarter, Unioto went the other to re-take the lead on a Milee Smith basket.

Steubenville had a good look the other way to re-tie the game out of a timeout, but the shot did not fall with 16 seconds left and they had to foul Smith, who sunk both shots with nine seconds left to make it a two-possession game.

Smith, a Dayton committ, netted a game-high 34 points to go with five rebounds, four steals and four blocks for the Shermans (23-2).

Unitoto, the top seed from the Southeast District, advances to next week’s regional tournament.

“We fought hard to get it back under six points and once we did, we turned them over a couple times and got some second chance opportunities and got ourselves right back in the game,” Forte said. “We came close, we just didn’t get the right opportunities to close it out.”

Nylah McShan, the Big Red standout senior and Clarion University signee that has led the way for the Crimson and Black for most of her four-year career, again led Big Red with 17 points, 13 rebounds, four steals and two assists.