By Bob Strohm
bstrohm@wbcowqel.com
The third time was not a charm for the Colonel Crawford girls basketball team on Tuesday night at Willard in the Division III sectional tournament.
With the season on the line the Colonel Crawford Lady Eagles and the Seneca East Lady Tigers battled it out in the girls Division III Sectional semi-finals.
The game stayed tight in the first quarter, but missed foul shots at the end of the stanza by Colonel Crawford’s Alexus Burkhart gave the Lady Tigers a 9-7 advantage. The Lady Tigers would extend their lead to eight at the end of the first half with a 20-12 lead going into the locker room. Colonel Crawford’s Burkhart and Ashley Gwirtz scored all 12 of the team’s first half points this trend would continue the rest of the night.
Colonel Crawford cut into the lead during the third quarter trailing 29-22. The fourth quarter saw the Lady Eagles grasp the basketball with their talons and go on a 9-2 run to tie the game up at 31-31 with 2:45 to go in the game on a Gwirtz shot. That would be the last points the Lady Eagles would score on the season as the Lady Tigers scored the game’s final five points for a 36-31 victory.
Megan Siesel would lead the Lady Tigers with 16 points.
With the win the Lady Tigers improve to 12-11 on the season and will play Western Reserve at 6:15 p.m. Saturday night in the Division III Sectional Finals at Willard.
Colonel Crawford’s Burkhart, and Gwirtz combined for 29 of The Lady Eagles’ 31 points with Gwirtz leading the way with 15 points and Burkhart adding 14. Abbie Bradshaw added the other 2 points for the team.
With the loss Colonel Crawford Lady Eagles finish their season at 11-12.
PHOTO GALLERY: Colonel Crawford vs. Seneca East | WQEL BROADCAST: Seneca East vs Colonel Crawford