Bellefontaine’s girls basketball team showed some grit by fighting back late in Monday’s game against North Union. But the Chiefs came up one basket short.
Bellefontaine trailed by eight points going into the fourth quarter. The Chiefs gave themselves a chance by holding the visiting Wildcats to two points over the final eight minutes.
Bellefontaine was unable to hit the clutch shots it needed down the stretch, though, as North Union held on for a 45-43 victory.
The Chiefs fall to 0-4, while the Wildcats improve to 1-1.
“I was proud with the fight the girls showed tonight,” said Bellefontaine head coach Meghan Ashcraft. “They worked really hard and it was a much better effort than we had against Tecumseh on Saturday.
“Offensively, we are still working to get where we need to be. We made some progress, but we still have work to do. Our outside shooting has to improve. We have to work really hard in practice getting shots up.”
Bellefontaine closed to within one possession after freshman post player Lexi Robinson scored inside to make it a three-point game (45-42) with 2:17 left.
But the Chiefs mustered only one more point — a free throw by Robinson with 1.4 seconds left — the rest of the way.
Bellefontaine led 18-16 after one quarter, but the Wildcats moved in front in the second stanza to lead 34-27 at halftime.
The Chiefs tightened up their defense in the second half to limit the Wildcats to 11 points over the last 16 minutes.
“We switched defenses and I felt like we were more engaged on defense in the second half,” said Ashcraft. “We also did a better job of getting in passing lanes and challenging their shots.”
Robinson provided a big boost for the Chiefs with 17 points. Junior forward Tayteum Vigansky had 10 points.
“We felt like we had the advantage inside and Lexi and Tayteum were able to do some good things inside,” said Ashcraft. “We have to continue to work at finishing our opportunities inside.”
Kailynn Kenner contributed six points and Carmen Shumaker added five for Bellefontaine.
In the junior varsity game, Bellefontaine won 33-25. Alexza Clifton had seven points and Ellie Mitchell and Karys Varner each had six for the Chiefs.
Bellefontaine is back in action Wednesday at home against Graham.
NORTH UNION 45
BELLEFONTAINE 43
NORTH UNION (1-1)
Kohler 1 0-0 3; Hoffman 5 4-4 18; Moran 2 0-0 4; Price 4 0-4 0; Parish 4 0-0 11. Totals: 16 4-8 45.
BELLEFONTAINE (0-4)
Kenner 3 0-0 6; Fullerton 1 1-2 3; Vigansky 3 4-8 10; Shumaker 2 1-4 5; Hudson 1 0-0 2; Robinson 6 5-6 17. Totals: 16 11-20 43.
Wildcats. 16 18 9 2 — 45
Chiefs. 18 9 8 8 — 43
Three pointers: North Union 9 (Hoffman 4, Parish 3, Price, Kohler); Bellefontaine 0. Team fouls: North Union 13; Bellefontaine 10.