ASHLAND -- An awesome Shelby comeback would be trumped by late game heroics as Bellvue advances to Regionals with a 58-52 victory to clinch the D2 Ashland District title.

 

Lady Red (20-3) senior guard Carly Santoro cracked 2,000 career points as she scored 17 of her game-tops 23 points in leading Bellevue to a 34-22 halftime edge. The Lady Whippets (16-5) trimmed the deficit to 48-41 by the end of the third then took control of the game in the fourth.

 

Behind Olivia Baker’s 18 points, Shelby battled all the way back to take a 50-49 lead in the closing minutes, but Santoro scored on a key drive with exactly 1 minute remaining to give the Lady Red a lead for good at 54-52.  Bellevue now moves on to play Napoleon in the Mansfield Regional.

 

Watch the full broadcast with Brian Skowronski and Travis Berardi on the call for this championship game on the video above.