Westview’s Maria McCoy blocks the shot of Whitko’s Kennedy Krull during Warriors’ 70-65 overtime win over the Wildcats in the championship game of the Central Noble Girls Basketball Sectional Saturday night. (Photos by Mike Deak)

ALBION –  Even Westview’s fans seemed stunned as the clock hit 0:00 Saturday night at Central Noble. In a game where both clubs worked so hard to get to a point, only for the other team to steal back all the momentum, Westview stood in visual relief in its 70-65 overtime win against a Whitko team that left the state tournament in disbelief once again.

Whitko’s Jen Reiff

The Class 2-A sectional championship was epic in many regards, but could also be stated as just two evenly matched teams that didn’t want to lose. Westview just had a few more answers down the stretch. Riding the hot hand of Grace Hales, who scored all 31 of her points in regulation, Westview had both Summer Konkle and Reagan Sharick hit threes in the overtime session. Up to the moments of their makes, the two had combined for just seven points in the game.

But as Whitko chased Hales around, and rightfully so as she hit seven threes on the night, Konkle’s three put Westview up 63-59. Whitko would rally to tie the game at 63 after Aly Reiff stole a pass and converted the layup, and had the ball down three with eight seconds to go but couldn’t get a shot to fall. Maria McCoy’s dagger free throws seemed melancholy, as Westview just wanted to hear the final horn.

The tears and despair on the Whitko girls as they filed out of the guts of the gymnasium told the tale. The Wildcats, which finish 19-7 and still without a sectional title to its name, leave the tournament smitten after falling in the sectional title game for the third time in as many years.

Whitko’s Aly Reiff

“The one thing we are going to struggle with is height, the way we are built,” said Whitko head coach Brandon Bradley, noting his club struggled with the 6’1″ McCoy inside. “We try to make up for it with speed, and they struggled with that, too. We made our run early, to start the game and then made the other run at the end because of our speed and quickness.”

Whitko could have folded the tent in the fourth quarter, trailing 53-41 after Hales hit her seventh bomb. But a 14-4 Whitko run to end regulation saw Reiff score six of her 18 points and the ‘Cats make 7-8 from the line in the final quarter, something it struggled to do in Friday night’s contest against Central Noble.

Jen Reiff would pace Whitko with 22 points, including two free throws with 16 seconds to go that tied the game at 57, sending the contest to bonus ball. Kennedy Krull would add in nine points.

Noted Bradley, “The heart that was left out there was impressive, I can’t be any more proud of how they handled that situation.”

McCoy scored 19 points and added in eight rebounds and five blocks for the Warriors (21-5), which get the consolation prize of having to face No. 1 Oregon-Davis in the Winamac Regional. O-D (24-2) scored 267 points in its three wins at the Hebron Sectional, and are currently second in the state in scoring at 83 points per game.

Whitko’s Hanna Yohe looks for help after diving on a loose ball against Westview.