For the second straight outing, Bellefontaine’s girls basketball team saw a close game slip away Wednesday.
The Chiefs, who suffered a two-point loss to North Union on Monday, were dealt a three-point defeat by visiting Graham 35-32 in a Central Buckeye Conference crossover game.
Bellefontaine drops to 0-5 on the season, while the Falcons move to 1-3.
Graham led by 10 points early in the fourth quarter before the Chiefs mounted a late rally.
Karys Varner made a layup with 49 seconds remaining to cap an 8-1 run and pull the Chiefs within three.
After Graham missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 25.7 seconds remaining, the Chiefs got the rebound and called a timeout after getting the ball past the mid-court stripe.
Bellefontaine missed a three-point attempt out of the timeout and also could not get a putback to fall in the final seconds as the Falcons held on for the win.
“It is a huge positive to see the girls keep fighting,” said Bellefontaine head coach Meghan Ashcraft. “They never quit and that is something we can feel good about.”
Bellefontaine’s offense continues to be a work in progress. The Chiefs are averaging only 34.8 points per game on the season.
“We were able to get a lot of close looks, but we just can’t get many of them to fall,” said Ashcraft. “I know it has to be extremely frustrating for the girls because those are shots they make in practice. We just have to keep working to get over the hump.”
Varner, a freshman, came off the bench to lead the Chiefs with nine points.
“We had some young girls that gave us a nice spark,” said Ashcraft. “Karys did exactly what we needed out of her. Aubrey Hudson also gave us some good defensive minutes and Alexza Clifton did a nice job as well when she was in there.”
Kailynn Kenner had eight points for Bellefontaine and Carmen Shumaker had seven points.
In the junior varsity game, Bellefontaine won 31-25. Ellie Mitchell led the Chiefs with 10 points.
Bellefontaine returns to action Saturday, Dec. 19, at home against Kenton Ridge.
GRAHAM 35, BELLEFONTAINE 32
GRAHAM (1-3)
Estep 1 2-2 4; Bailey 1 0-4 2; Cupps 2 1-1 5; Shoemaker 0 1-2 1; Yukon 3 0-0 6; King 7 3-4 17. Totals: 14 7-13 35.
BELLEFONTAINE (0-5)
Kenner 3 1-2 8; Vigansky 1 1-2 4; Middaugh 1 0-0 2; Shumaker 3 1-2 7; Robinson 0 2-2 2;
Varner 4 1-2 9. Totals: 12 6-10 32.
Falcons 12 11 8 4 — 35
Chiefs 3 14 7 8 — 32
Three pointers: Graham 0; Bellefontaine 2 (Kenner, Vigansky).