March Madness - survive and advance!  That sentiment never rang more true than Wednesday night as Ovid-Elsie downed Flint Hamady 34-32 to advance to the District Finals Friday night against the winner of Owosso and Chesaning.

"I thought our kids played as hard as they have all season," said Head Coach Ryan Cunningham.  "Hamady came to play tonight and they gave us all we wanted for this semi-final."

Hamady led 9-6 after the first quarter but Ovid-Elsie used a 10-3 second quarter surge to lead 16-12 at halftime.  In a back and forth game, Hamady tied things up 23-23 with a 14-10 third quarter run of their own.

"Our girls came to the bench at the end of the third and said 'It is zero to zero for eight minutes'", noted Cunningham.  "That told me they still had some fight in them."

Ovid-Elsie out scored Hamady 8-6 in the final stanza behind 5 points from Evalyn Cole in the 4th quarter including an offensive rebound and put back to take the lead and the game winner with 6 seconds to go.

"Hamady played tough," said Cunningham, "but give our kids credit because they battled all night and hit some big shots down the stretch. And Evalyn Cole definitely earned her stripes tonight with a huge five point run on her own in the 4th including the game winner."

Caitlyn Walter (3 assists and 3 steals) led the Lady Marauders with 10 points while Cole finished with 9 points and 3 steals, Hailee Campbell 7 points, Kiah Longoria 4 points, Ava Bates 3 points and Braylon Byrnes a free throw to round out the Marauder scoring.

Bates also gathered 10 rebounds and 3 steals while Hailee Campbell added 4 rebounds. 

"I have to give a 'shout out' to Campbell because she stepped in when Braeden (Tokar) got hurt and played amazing," added Cunningham.

The Lady Marauders (20-1) handed out 8 assists on 12 made baskets and held a 22-18 rebound advantage for the game.  Ovid-Elsie was also able to create 20 Hamady turnovers while gathering 10 steals.

Hamady shot 50% from the field (13 of 26) while OE shot 34.3%.  Hamady also bested OE from the free throw line 66.7% to 40.9%, respectively.

The District Finals will be played at Ovid-Elsie Friday night at 7:00 p.m.