Marietta’s Braxtyn Kroft nails a short jumper Monday night in the Tigers 50-44 overtime win over the Washington Court House Lions in a Division III tournament game at Sutton Gym. (Photo by Mike Morrison)

The Marietta Tigers rallied from an eight-point, fourth-quarter deficit to down the Washington Court House Blue Lions 50-44 in overtime in an OHSSA Division III thriller at Sutton Gymnasium Monday night.

The No. 4 seeded Lady Tigers used a relentless full-court press in the final quarter to force the game into overtime and then outscored the No. 5 Lady Lions 13-7 in the extra four minutes to advance to play top-seeded Unioto Thursday evening in Chillicothe.

Marietta forced the Lions into seven turnovers in the final quarter and came up with some huge stops on defense to hold WCH at bay and allow their offense time to catch up.

Although she didn’t score a single-point or register a steal, Tiger first-year head coach Ali Shane felt like sophomore Maura Misel provided her team with a huge boost defensively when she entered the game for the first time in the final quarter,

“I have to give Maura Misel a lot of credit coming off the bench,” said Shane, “She doesn’t get many minutes but when she does come in they are so meaningful and she was the difference maker with our pressure defense forcing the turnovers that we were able to convert on.”

Marietta’s Braxtyn Kroft (23) puts up a short jumper while being guarded by a pair of Washington Court House defenders Monday evening at Sutton Gym. (Photo by Mike Morrison)

The Tigers scored the first five points of the game but allowed the Lions to score the next six to trail by a point.

Marietta would end up taking a 10-6 lead at the end of the first quarter but Court House won the second quarter 11-7 to send the two to the intermission locked in a 17-17 tie.

Washington Court House managed to increase their lead to five late in the third quarter after a 3-pointer by Kate Miller but the Tigers got a huge answer from senior Lauren Elliott as she canned a three to close the lead to 29-27 heading to the final quarter.

The Lions put the Tigers on the ropes in a hurry to open the final quarter as after back-to-back baskets by Bobb Racine, Miller came up with a steal and cashed it in at the other end to push the lead to 35-27 with just six minutes to play in the game.

The Tigers went into full pressure mode on defense and began their comeback when senior Hayleigh Chidester was fouled driving to the bucket and made both free throws to close the lead to six.

Marietta’s Hayleigh Chidester (3) puts up a shot while being defended by Washington Court House’s Calee Ellars (23) Monday night at Sutton Gym. The Tigers downed the Lions 50-44 in overtime. (Photo by Mike Morrison)

After another stop by the Tiger defense junior Fiona Fowler drained a huge 3-pointer and just like that the lead was cut to three.

Fowler came up with a steal on the defensive end and fired a pass to Chidester who was fouled and again sent to the charity stripe.

Chidester would once again convert both freebies to cut the lead to a single point.

The Marietta defense was able to force a 10-second call on the Lions but were unable to convert on the offensive end and WCH got a huge two-pointer from Jayden Hatfield with less than two minutes to go.

Elliott answered once again for the home team as she banked in a left-handed shot to cut the lead to a single-point with 90 seconds to play in regulation.

The Tigers forced yet another turnover to get possession of the ball once again. And once again Chidester was fouled with less than a minute to play.

Chidester missed the first one but made the second to tie the game at 37-37.

The Lions had possession of the ball with a chance to go ahead but a couple of crucial blocked shots by first Braxtyn Kroft and then Chidester gave the ball back to the Tigers with a chance for a walk-off win.

Elliott’s 3-pointer was short as was Misel’s put-back attempt after grabbing the rebound sending the game to overtime.

The connection between Chidester and Kroft accounted for several Tiger buckets in the game but none bigger than a bucket by Kroft off of an assist from Chidester to begin the final quarter.

Peyton Hughes quickly tied things back up with a two-pointer but Fowler responded big time for her Tigers with a floater for two on the other end that would put the Tigers back in front for good.

Chidester gave them a four-point lead by grabbing a huge offensive rebound and putting it back up and in and the Tigers converted on 7-of-8 free throws down the stretch to pull away to the thrilling win.

“Making those free throws was huge and if we would have done that in some of those close losses we might have turned them into wins,” said Shane. “I’m glad they learned from that and they have worked and worked on it and were able to hit them tonight.”

The Tigers suffered a pair of overtime losses late in the season and although detrimental as they were, that experience may have played huge dividends in the tournament win.

“We played in some overtime thrillers and I think that really prepared us for the tournament,” said Shane. “I’m so proud of how they were able to stay calm and come back after we were down.”

Chidester led the Tigers in scoring with 16 points and assists with six while also pulling down six boards.

“We made some really big plays on defense and made our free throws, which was huge,” said Chidester. “We’ve been in some really close games lately and I think that has helped us and we were able to stay composed tonight and get this win.”

Elliott added 13 points and seven rebounds while Fowler added 11 points to go along with four steals.

Fowler felt like her teams ability to come up with the loose balls and rebounds was crucial in getting the win.

“Getting this win means a lot to us,” said Fowler. “I think in these close games the grit plays and the hustling plays really make the difference and I think it did tonight.”

Kroft came up big as well as she finished with eight points, five rebounds and three assists.

The Tigers outrebounded the Lions by a healthy 29-19 margin and finished the game 18-of-24 from the free throw line.

Miller led the way for Washington Court House with 16 points while Hatfield and Racine added eight apiece.

The Lions season comes to a close with a 14-9 record while the (12-11) Tigers live to fight another day with a tough battle with top-seeded Unioto just three days away.

“I’m just so proud of the girls tonight and we are excited to get to go play Unioto,” said Shane. “It feels good to get this one and we will live it up tonight but we’ve got to go right back to work tomorrow.”

Tiger freshman Blaire Reed, who is out for the season with an injury, still made her presence felt by singing a beautiful version of the National Anthem prior to the start of the game.