TO THE HOOP — Oak Glen’s Haylee Stewart goes to the basket past Union Local’s Laken Vinskovich during Monday’s OVAC Class 4A semifinal. - Kim North

The fourth-seeded Golden Bears (10-5) never trailed in grounding the Jets (17-3) by a 65-59 count inside ‘The Hangar’ on the Union Local campus. Union Local fell to Fort Frye a season ago, while Oak Glen advanced to the title tilt where they fell to Indian Creek.

“Union Local, by far, has been the best team so far, along with Indian Creek,” Oak Glen head coach Ryan Wells said. “We were the fourth seed, and sometimes there are upsets. When you lose a player like they did, that’s not taking anything away from the girls that played tonight, a player of that caliber, it changes the dynamics.

“They have done a great job of adjusting without her, but tonight was kind of the perfect storm,” Wells added. “Union Local wasn’t on their game as much as they have been in the past, and we played, perhaps, the best game we have played all year.”

Behind the outside marksmanship of senior Ella Stewart, the Golden Bears raced to a 19-9 advantage late in the first quarter before holding a 19-15 edge after eight minutes. Stewart was a sniper as she knocked down five of her seven triples from a variety of spots on the floor.

IN THE PAINT — Oak Glen’s Ella Stewart and Union Local’s Ellie Greenwood battle for loose ball. - Kim North

After an evenly matched second quarter, Oak Glen held a 29-24 lead at the half.

A 22-point third quarter — sparked by Mikalyn Balch (10) and Angelina Polly (5) — allowed the Golden Bears to extend their margin to 12, 51-39, entering the final panel.

Union Local’s fullcourt pressure defense hampered Oak Glen down the stretch as it committed 11 of its 25 turnovers in the final eight minutes, but the Jets couldn’t take full advantage as they continued to miss easy and wide-open shots.

The Jets did close to as close as three, 58-55, on a scoping layup by Laken Vinskovich with 2:07 remaining, but the Golden Bears’ Balch converted a pair of free throws with 91 seconds left to stave off the hosts.

Ella Stewart finished with 24 points as three Oak Glen players. Balch added 16 and Haylee Stewart had 12 and nine rebounds, drawing praise from her head coach.

Vinskovich, the only ‘Tower’ left standing after the season-ending injury to Ameera Saunders, tied Ella Stewart for game scoring honors, but struggled from the floor. She also had nine rebounds. Myah Martin added a dozen markers, while Ellie Greenwood had 10 and Delaney Butler nine. The Jets only played five players, with Alli Kellaway contributing the final four points.

Tolzda didn’t use Saunders’ absence as a reason why the Jets lost.