SHOOTING — Catholic Central’s Monica Bolster drives baseline for two points. - Kim North

SHADYSIDE — After a loss on Monday, Shadyside found itself in a must-win situation Wednesday night as far as the OVAC girls’ basketball Class 2A playoff picture goes.

While it might not have been a work of art, the host Tigers (9-7) held a 20-point lead midway through the third quarter, but had to hold off a furious rally by Catholic Central for a 55-45 triumph inside the Tigers Den.

Both teams entered the contest in the top 4, with the Crusaders (10-7) checking in second, one spot better than the Tigers. Clay-Battelle is right on the Tigers’ tails, with River also having an outside shot. The top 2 host semifinal games.

“We want to get better with every game, and one of our goals is to get better each day,” Shadyside head coach Serge Gentile said. “If we keep improving, we’ll see what happens when tournament time rolls around.”

The game was deadlocked at 5 early on, but back-to-back treys by Lyla Samsa and Cam Kolvek extended the margin to 11-5 and the hosts never looked back. They led 18-11 after one quarter.

Shadyside upped the count to 29-17 at the half as five players had at least five points.

A 12-4 run to start the third quarter built a 20-point lead at 41-21 when Kaci Tsoras completed a conventional three-point play.

However, Catholic Central didn’t roll over as it battled and battled, getting to within seven, 48-41, on a jumper from the right baseline by Aurelia Hoover with 3:45 on the fourth-quarter clock. The Crusaders would never get closer.

“Shadyside is a tough game for us because they play with a level of intensity that is tough to match sometimes,” Catholic Central head coach Rocky Bragg said. “We backed ourselves into a corner early by not shooting well, but we recovered from that by going into a press in the second half and it made a difference.

“But, because we fell too far behind, No. 1 it was too hard to come back and make the game competitive and try to win, and No. 2 we just ran out of gas,” Bragg continued. “I’m proud of the way my girls fought and played hard. That was a battle between two teams that want to make the OVAC championship playoffs.

“Maybe we’ll see them down the road,” Bragg added. “Hopefully, in the championship.”

Mara Delaney led a trio of twin figure scorers for Catholic Central with 15. Hoover and Mary Rohde each had 10.

“We’ve got to get better at taking care of the ball at times,” Gentile said. “We played a little bit too fast for ourselves, which is fine with me because we want to play that fast-paced type of game. We went through a little stretch there where we didn’t take care of the ball, but we overcame that and played hard.

“I thought we did just what we needed to on defense,” he added. “We got some stops and stacked some stops on top of each other there at times. I also thought we rebounded well and pushed the ball down the floor.”

With the Crusaders pulling to within nine halfway through the fourth quarter, Kolvek knocked down a huge 3 that restored the lead to a dozen. She finished with 13.

“She has shot the ball well for us all year and she’s made big plays down the stretch,” Gentile said of his freshman guard. “The lights don’t get too bright for her and she’s ready to make a big play whenever we need her to.”

Senior Kaci Tsoras led Shadyside, and all scorers, with 19 points, of which 12 came in the second half. Kamryn Parker added nine.

The teams combined for 45 turnovers, with the Crusaders charting 25. The visitors also held a 35-30 advantage off the glass as Delaney snagged eight. Tsoras had eight for Shadyside.

Shadyside 55, Steubenville Catholic 45

STEUBENVILLE CATHOLIC – Hoover 4 2-4 10; Delaney 6 0-0 15; Rohde 4 2-4 10; Garcia 1 0-0 3; Rigaud 0 0-0 0; Lathem 0 0-0 0; Fink 0 3-4 3; Balabin 0 0-0 0; Bolster 0 4-6 4; Krivoniak 0 0-0 0; Totals: 15-48 11-18 45.

SHADYSIDE – Kolvek 5 0-0 13; Tsoras 8 3-5 19; Samsa 2 0-0 6; Weatherson 0 1-2 1; Parker 3 2-3 9; Albright 0 1-2 1; Johnson 2 1-1 5; A. Hines 0 1-2 1; Totals: 20-59 9-15 55

Three-point goals: 4 (Delaney 3, Garcia). Shadyside 6 (Kolvek 3, Samsa 2, Parker)