ST. MARYS — It was as closely-contested a game as you could’ve hoped for from a district semifinal contest. In the end, one team made the shots they needed to make, and the other didn’t.

Such was the case on Wednesday night as the Otto-Eldred girls fell to A-C Valley 56-52 in the District 9 Class A semifinals at St. Marys.

A matchup that featured a pair of 1,000-point scorers — O-E’s Camryn Thomas and A-C Valley’s Ellie Thompson — lived up to its billing, as both players led their teams in scoring (Thompson with 24 and Thomas with 18, plus eight rebounds and five steals).

The Lady Terrors simply couldn’t make enough contested buckets to overtake the Falcons.

“It was a great game,” O-E coach Barb Close said. “We knew it was going to be a dog fight the minute we walked in here. We knew that it could go either way if we played our game.”

It was the Falcons who came out firing right out of the gate, hitting shots from all over the court to take an early 12-5 lead.

At the other end, the Terrors opted for a more methodical approach, but surrendered a few early turnovers on some sloppy passing.

But O-E came roaring back with a 9-0 run spurred by several nice baskets from Ali Cousins (who finished with 10 points, five assists and four rebounds). Some better pressure on defense gave the Terrors some takeaways of their own, and Otto exited the first quarter with a slim 16-14 lead.

The Falcons would tighten up on defense as the second quarter got going, which helped compensate when their hot shooting leveled off a bit.

The two teams traded 3-pointers to end the half, as A-C Valley took a 29-26 lead into the break.

As the second half got underway, the Terrors were doing all they could just to keep up with the Falcons. It was a rough-and-tumble quarter of basketball as the officials were more than happy to let the two teams go at it despite a lot physical play.

Despite some struggles on the offensive end, the Terrors were still able to force the Falcons to cough up the ball on multiple occasions. They finally got a spark on offense courtesy of Haylee Frederick, who came off the bench and scored seven points in the frame.

But A-C Valley still held a 42-39 lead after three, and in the fourth, the Falcons were able to pick up a number of key offensive rebounds. This led to points in the paint from Thompson, A-C Valley’s all-time leading scorer and the focal point of the offense once again.

“You pretty much mark her down from anywhere from 18 to 25 (points),” Falcons coach Dave Sherman said of Thompson. “She’s got a great motor and what we do pretty much revolves around her.”

With just over three minutes to go, Emily Smith (five points) scored off a missed free throw to put the Terrors up 49-48, the first time they had been in front since early in the second quarter.

But A-C Valley wouldn’t go away, and the next few minutes were the epitome of high-pressure, back-and-forth basketball.

While both Thompson and Thomas were able to get points, Thomas truly had to fight for every basket as she faced constant double and triple-teams once she got the ball in the paint.

“She’s hard to miss; when you can throw a six-footer out there on the floor, you’re going to notice her,” Sherman said of Thomas. “She is a presence out there but we saw her on film and I kept telling the girls, ‘She wants to go to the hoop.’ We just had to watch out and not bail her out when she gets in there, and we did a pretty good job with that.”

On the other end, Thompson converted on just a few more opportunities that proved to be the difference.

“I wish we could’ve contained Ellie a little bit better than we did, but Camryn almost had her in the match,” Close said. “They both played a helluva ball game. We just didn’t come out on the right end of it.”

After the Falcons took a 54-52 lead with just over a minute to go, the Terrors had one last chance to tie the game or take the lead. But like most of the game, Otto wasn’t able to get a great look at the basket, and the Falcons came up with one last turnover and basket to ice the victory.

A-C Valley (20-5) will meet KSAC rival and undefeated North Clarion for the Class A title game at a site and time to be determined. It marks the first time the A-C Valley girls have reached even the title game itself, but coach Sherman and his team are obviously looking for the big prize.

“We’ve got to play against a familiar foe, but it’s a great opportunity for these girls,” Sherman said. “They deserve it. They’ve worked hard since they were in grade school. They’ve been going after this and putting the time in the gym. They really care a lot about it and it means a lot to them.”

As for the Terrors (20-4), their season is far from over; Otto had already secured a berth in the state playoffs, and will play Elk Catholic in the Class A consolation game.

With at least two more games left on the schedule, Close knows how important it is for her players to put this defeat in the rearview mirror.

“Going into the locker room I knew they were going to be upset because they really wanted another chance to get to the D-9 title game,” she said (the Terrors fell to North Clarion in last year’s title game). “First thing was to tell them how proud I am of how they played. We’ve just got to stay positive going into the next round.”

AT ST. MARYS

A-C Valley (56)

Cammi McNany 4 0-0 10, Ellie Thompson 9 6-7 24, Viertel 2 1-1 4, Irwin 3 0-0 6, Eaton 4 0-0 8, Sherman 1 2-2 4. Totals: 23 9-9 56

Otto-Eldred (52)

Ali Cousins 4 2-2 10, Shelander 2 0-0 6, Camryn Thomas 6 6-7 18, Greeley 0 1-2 1, Spinney 2 0-0 5, Smith 2 0-0 5, Frederick 3 0-0 7. Totals: 19 9-11 52

ACV 14 29 42 56

O-E  16 26 39 52

Three-point goals: ACV 3 (McNany 2, Thompson 1), O-E 5 (Shelander 2, Spinney 1, Frederick 1, Smith 1); Total fouls: ACV 12, O-E 12; fouled out: none