ST. MARYS, Pa. (D9Sports) — What has already been one of the best seasons in A-C Valley girls’ basketball history saw the Lady Falcons take another step towards greatness when they advanced to the District 9 Class 1A title game for the first time in school history with a 56-52 win over Otto-Eldred in the semifinals Wednesday night at St. Marys High School.

(Photo of Ellie Thompson of A-C Valley who had a game-high 24 points to lead the Lady Falcons to the District 9 Class 1A title game for the first time in school history)

Brooke Irwin broke a 52-all tie with a layup with 1:15 to play, and Ellie Thompson came up with a game-clinching blocked shot of a Camryn Thomas attempt with 11 seconds left to lift A-C Valley to its first-ever District 9 title game appearance with a 56-52 win over Otto-Eldred at St. Marys High School.

Thompson hadn’t even been guarding Thomas, Otto-Eldred All-State forward, for most of the game, but with about two minutes to play A-C Valley head coach Dave Sherman switched her and Kylee Eaton on the defensive end.

“We switched,” Sherman said. “I don’t like to put Ellie on their best player because she is our best player and I don’t want to wear her out. I think I learned that from Ron Botz (the legendary A-C Valley boys’ coach who Sherman played for at the school). I had her on their other post and Kylee on (Thomas). Kylee was getting in a little foul trouble and might have been wearing down some, as was Thomas. Finally, with about two minutes to play, I told Ellie to switch with Kylee. I put her on Thomas and that made a big difference. Ellie is a different kind of defender than Kylee. Not that Kylee isn’t a good defender, they are just different.”

Thomas had tied the game at 52 on an old-school 3-point play with 1:30 to go, but Irwin took a feed from Cami McNany 15 seconds later to put A-C Valley ahead by two, 54-52.

Jade Spinney then missed a 3-pointer for second-seeded Otto-Eldred (20-4) with just over a minute to go, and the Lady Terrors were forced to foul Annie Viertel with just over 40 seconds to play.

Viertel, however, missed the front end of the one-and-one, and Otto-Eldred got the basketball when Eaton was tied up by a Lady Terror on the rebound with 39.6 to play.

Following a timeout, Otto-Eldred worked the ball inside to Thomas, but Thompson blocked her shot with about 11 seconds left.

The ball came out to Viertel who pushed it up the floor and feed a wide open hustling Thompson for a layup just before the horn to seal the victory.

A-C Valley (20-5) led by five, 44-39, following a Thompson basket early in the fourth quarter. But Otto-Eldred answered with a 10-4 run to take a 49-48 lead with just over three minutes to play when Emily Smith scored off an offensive rebound of a Thomas shot that was blocked by Thompson. Thomas had collected an offensive rebound off a missed free throw by Brittney Greeley, who had hit one of two to close the gap to 48-47.

“They had girls who were knocking down shots,” Sherman said. “They just kept coming back.”

Thompson, though, gave the Lady Falcons the lead back, 50-49, on a six-foot turnaround shot on A-C Valley’s next possession.

“It was just one of those games where neither team was going to quit,” Sherman said. “It just came down to the end, and we got a big play at the end and got it done.”

Otto-Eldred then missed three shots that would have given it the lead, one off an offensive rebound and another off a steal before Thompson hit a bucket out of a timeout to put A-C alley up three, 52-49, before Thomas’ old-school three tied the contest one final time.

The game was tight throughout with Otto-Eldred holding a 16-14 lead after one quarter before A-C Valley went ahead 29-26 at halftime. The Lady Falcons, who had a pair of seven-point leads in the game, still led by three, 42-39, going to the fourth quarter.

Thompson then gave A-C Valley a 44-39 lead early in the fourth before Alyssa Shelander nailed a 3-pointer and Thomas hit a layup to tie the game at 44 with just under six minutes to play.

A long two by Thompson put the Lady Falcons back ahead at 46-44 with just under 4 ½ minutes left.

Allison Cousins and McNany then exchanged baskets to make it 48-46 with four minutes left before Greeley was fouled and the sequence happened to give Otto-Eldred it’s final lead.

Thompson led all scorers with 24 points for A-C Valley with McNany adding 10 and Eaton eight.

Thomas had a team-best 18 points for Otto-Eldred and added eight rebounds and five steals. Cousins chipped in 10 points, five assists and four rebounds with Haylee Frederick adding seven points and Greeley six rebounds and a point.

A-C Valley will get another crack at North Clarion in the District 9 title game at 1 p.m. Saturday at Clarion University’s Tippin Gym.

The Lady Falcons have lost to the She-Wolves twice this year, including in the KSAC Title Game two weeks ago, and lost to North Clarion two out of three times a year ago, including in the District 9 semifinals.

“I’m looking forward to it,” Sherman said. “It ought to be a good one. Maybe the third time is the charm. We will see.”

Otto-Eldred’s season isn’t over. The Lady Terrors will take on ECC in the consolation game and then head into the PIAA playoffs for the second straight year.

A-C VALLEY 56, OTTO-ELDRED 52

Score by Quarters

A-C Valley 14 15 13 14 — 56
Otto-Eldred 16 10 13 13 — 52

A-C VALLEY — 56

Cami McNany 4 0-0 10, Ellie Thompson 9 5-6 24, Annie Viertel 2 0-1 4, Brooke Irwin 3 0-0 6, Kylee Eaton 4 0-0 8, Emma Fox 0 0-0 0, Allison Sherman 1 2-2 4. Totals 23 7-9 56.

OTTO-ELDRED — 52

Allison Cousins 4 2-3 10, Alyssa Shelander 2 0-0 6, Camryn Thomas 6 6-7 18, Reilly Raught 0 0-0 0, Autumn Smith 0 0-0 0, Brittney Greeley 0 1-2 1, Jade Spinney 2 0-0 5, Emily Smith 2 0-0 5, Haylee Frederick 3 0-0 7. Totals 19 9-12 52.

Three-pointers: A-C Valley 3 (McNany 2, Thompson). Otto-Eldred 5 (Shelander 2, Spinney, Emily Smith, Frederick).