GOING UP — Oak Glen’s Kami Ward attempts a contested shot with Weir High’s Janai Turner and Rayna Hoover defending during Monday’s sectional contest at Oak Glen. - Andrew Grimm

NEW MANCHESTER — With the season on the line, Oak Glen and Weir High put on a memorable show for a third time this season.

And, for a third time this season, it was the Golden Bears pulling out a late victory — this time to stay alive and advance to the sectional final.

Trailing by one with 30 seconds to go, senior Lizzie Kell swished a go-ahead 3-pointer that ended up being the winning points in a 52-48 Region 1, Section 1 semifinal victory at the Bears Den.

“We knew it was going to be (a battle),” Oak Glen head coach Ryan Wells said. “Both teams played really well. It’s a rivalry game, it doesn’t matter what’s happened before it’s going to be a battle with them.

“I think the difference in the end was we had five seniors on the floor that did not want their season to end.”

Kell, who has been a part of two state tournament softball teams, stepping up in that moment was not a surprise to Wells. She finished with nine points.

“Not surprising at all,” Wells said. “We’ve been trying to get her to shoot the ball more, and that’s exactly why. None of the girls want their season to end, but Lizzie especially wants her senior basketball season to continue. She stepped up for us defensively, and even though she missed a couple transition buckets, she was unphased and had the composure to make a huge shot like that.”

Carson Barr drained a pair of key foul shots with 2.3 seconds left to all-but seal the deal. She tied for the team lead with Alexus Greenlief with 16 points each.

Though it was not as dramatic as the last time the teams met, an 18-point Golden Bear comeback 10 days earlier, or the overtime game in December, it was another late comeback.

“We drew up a play during a timeout, it didn’t pan out, but they didn’t panic,” Wells said. “These five seniors have been in those situations, not just in this sport, but multiple sports. Sometimes that does make a big difference.

“There’s just no panic. They get frustrated, but they don’t get down. There’s a lot of experience on this team in close games, not just in basketball, but in soccer and softball and volleyball. They’re used to the pressure.”

As exciting as it was on the Oak Glen (11-12) side, it was equally a tough way for the young Red Riders (10-13) to end the season.

“Three classic battles,” Weir High head coach Rick Stead said. “You can draw back and say if this happened or if that happened … Sometimes things just don’t work out your way. We put ourselves in good positions, we took good shots, sometimes they just rim out. I’m proud of the girls, I’m proud of the effort they put forth.

“We made a couple mistakes at the end. We played 22 games and the girls came a long way, but there were just still a couple little things, little nuances they have to learn. Some mistakes they made as sophomores they won’t as juniors or seniors.

“It was a really good basketball game, unfortunately someone has to lose and that’s been us three times this season. Both teams played extremely hard, it was a great game and that is everything you want to see in a tournament game.”

The Red Riders, who did not have any seniors, came a long way from the start of the season — both coaches pointed out.

“All of these girls are coming back,” Stead said. “They stayed with the program, they listened, they grew and learned and came a long way.

“I think the sky is the limit with this group. This is going to be motivation for them to work hard this off season.”

“Weir is young, but, man, did they play well,” Wells said. “Their future is very bright. This is going to be a fun series the next couple years. I was very impressed with the way Rick had his girls ready to come out and play and how they really changed their season around the midway point. It just goes to show how much their girls have grown this year.”

After the teams went back and forth the entire first quarter, Janai Turner drained one of her seven triples on her way to a game-high 24 points to make it 16-13 Red Riders.

Weir netted the first five of the second quarter to make it an 8-0 run, but Oak Glen netted 12 of the next 14 to surge ahead. The Red Riders, though, got another buzzer-beater, this time from Brayley Lash, to lead 29-27 at the half.

In the third quarter, Oak Glen pushed ahead again, this time taking a four-point lead with a 6-0 run, eventually to hold a narrow 40-39 advantage at the end of three.

A Turner trey on the opening shot of the fourth put Weir back on top, and it led three times, but never by any more than two, before Kell’s late triple was the final lead change.

With the win, the Golden Bears advance to take on North Marion on Thursday in the Section 1 final. The top-seeded Huskies won both meetings in the regular season, but the last one was just an eight-point margin.

“I wish Oak Glen luck,” Stead said. “I think they have a chance to make it far.”

Oak Glen 52, Weir High 48

Weir High 16-13-10-9 – 48

Oak Glen 13-14-13-12 – 52

WEIR HIGH (10-13): Baker 0 4-4 4; Kaufman 2 2-4 6; Turner 9 0-0 24; Lash 3 0-0 7; Faulks 2 0-0 4; Hoover 1 1-2 3. TOTALS: 17, 7-9; 48.

OAK GLEN (11-12): Sy. Brown 0 0-1 0; Kell 2 3-5 9; Greenlief 7 2-2 16; Ward 2 1-2 6; Sa. Brown 2 0-0 5; Barr 5 6-9 16; McConnachie 0-0-0 0. TOTALS: 18, 12-19; 52.

3-POINT GOALS: Weir High 7 (Turner 6, Lash); Oak Glen 3 (Kell, Ward, Sa. Brown).