But despite their best efforts, they fell just short.

The Lady Panthers (2-19, 4-seed) gave everything they had but it wasn’t quite enough as the Lady Pirates (10-11, 5-seed) squeaked by with a 64-53 victory in overtime.

“You could tell neither team had played in two weeks,” said Clymer coach Scott Neckers. “There was a lot of rust to knock off. We missed some easy shots and they missed some too. We fought through it but they didn’t give us anything either.”

While Clymer’s Emma Wiggers had a quiet first half, scoring just four points, she exploded for 18 in the second half, including eight in the fourth quarter and five in overtime when her team needed her most.

OBSERVER Photo by Anthony Dolce Pine Valley's Danielle West dribbles off a defender in Sunday's game.

“I get after her the most because she can really dominate,” Neckers said. “She stepped up.”

Not only did Wiggers show up big, but so did her teammate Mikala Einink. Einink only had six points in regulation, but she saved her heroics for overtime. Einink buried two dagger three pointers, and drove a ball to the lane where she was fouled hard on a fast break, and despite slamming hard to the court and holding her head when she got up, was able to nail the two free throws she was given.

“Einink hit a couple threes got bounced around pretty good,” Neckers said. “She’s really grown as a leader in the last two or three weeks, which is good as a sophomore. I’m excited about the whole team.”

It was a tight game through out, as Pine Valley either led or held the game in a tie from the opening tip, until Wiggers gave Clymer their first lead of the game in the third quarter, 22-21, before Pine Valley was able to answer immediately on a layup from senior Haley Campbell, 23-22. The two teams traded baskets back and forth from there on, until it looked like Clymer had it wrapped up with 1:30 to go in regulation. The Lady Pirates had just made a shot to put them up 43-37 with just 90 seconds left on the clock, leaving the Lady Panthers to play hard defense and get a little lucky. And according to coach Eric Spanbauer, the luck came at the right time.

“I told the girls before the game that the harder we work, the luckier we’ll get,” Spanbauer said. “And they worked their butts off, and all I can attribute that to was the ‘luckier’ we got. We banked one in and hit one from the corner, and the defense created it all. And finally, for the first time all season, a few of the shots fell.”

First it was Pine Valley junior Lyric Westlund, who buried a three pointer from the corner to cut the lead back to 43-40, when the Lady Panthers defense came up with one of their many steals on the afternoon, and the luck Spanbauer was talking about came through, from the hand of an unlikely player.

Danielle West, a seventh grader who started the year on Modified, started the game for the Lady Panthers and watched as the ball left her hand and banked around the rim and in to tie the game at 43.

“She played really well,” Spanbauer said. “She came up with two games left in the varsity season. She started on Modified, to J.V., to Varsity. Her improvement has been going from a kid who can shoot the ball a little bit to being an actual basketball player. She wasn’t a weakness defensively or running the offense. I’m so proud of her improvements through the year.”

Westlund then hit two free throws to put the Lady Panthers up 45-43 before Wiggers woke up once again for Clymer.

Wiggers drove the lane hard and made a contested layup to tie the game at 45, though she missed the ensuing free throw. Clymer was able to grab the rebound off the miss and get one last chance to end the game in regulation, but the shot fell just short.

The game started out at a fast pace, as Pine Valley led 12-11 at the end of the first quarter, but it slowed down significantly in the second quarter. The Lady Panthers were only able to scored seven points in the quarter, but held Clymer to just four, giving the Lady Panthers a 19-15 lead at half, before the fireworks of the second half started.

One thing was clear despite the Pine Valley loss — their improvement over the season. Pine Valley’s transition from the beginning of the season to Sunday’s overtime loss is apparent, and both coaches recognized it.

“Hats off to Pine Valley,” Neckers said. “We played them earlier this season and they have come a long, long way. They played hard.”

“I’m so proud of our girls,” Spanbauer added. “Where we are today versus where we were on November 11th is a night and day difference in terms of effort and skill level. It’s a totally different team, and a totally different group of kids.”

Clymer was led by Wiggers’ 22 points, while Einink had 16 to end the game. The Lady Panthers were led by Campbell’s 17, while West had 13.

Clymer now advances to play the Panama Lady Panthers on Tuesday, March 4 at Jamestown Community College at 8 p.m.

“They’re tough,” Neckers said. “They’re good, they’re well coached, they play hard. We’re just going to go and give them our best.”

While Pine Valley’s season is over, Spanbauer knows the program is on the verge of becoming much more prominent.

“My biggest regret is not having another year with our seniors,” Spanbauer said. “But we talk all the time about creating a culture. I don’t know if we’ll be able to do what Tim (Nobles) did and win seven state championships in 15 years but we just want to be good again. These girls are from that tradition and understand that tradition. We have that drive. I’m so excited about what we can do moving forward.”

Also on Sunday, the Westfield/Brocton Lady Wolverines saw their season come to an end in Class-C2 with a loss at 1-seed Holland, 73-37.