WARDSVILLE, Mo. - The Fatima Lady Comets were charging.
Down by 14 points early in the second half Monday night to the Hermann Lady Bearcats, Fatima had cut the deficit to just five midway through the fourth quarter.
But then the momentum swung back to the Lady Bearcats, who outscored the Lady Comets 13-2 the rest of the way to take a 57-40 decision in the opening round of the Class 3 District 9 Tournament at Blair Oaks.
"I thought we had forced a travel on the baseline and then they come down and hit a 3," Fatima coach Matt Baker said.
The 17-point final margin was the largest of the game.
"The final score is deceiving," Baker said.
The first quarter turned into a 3-point shooting contest as the teams swapped baskets from long distance. Hermann was 4-of-5 on 3s in the quarter, including Brooke Grosse's buzzer-beater that gave the Lady Bearcats a 17-13 lead.
Fatima was 3-of-5, with all three coming from Courtney Wolfe. The junior had 11 of Fatima's 13 first-quarter points.
Hermann led by as many as nine points in the second quarter and took a 27-20 advantage into halftime.
The Lady Bearcats opened the third quarter with a 7-0 run to push their lead to 14 midway through the period.
Enter Katelyn Plassmeyer.
Plassmeyer, who did not play in the first two quarters for Fatima, had eight of the Lady Comets' 10 points in the final 2:51 as Hermann took a 39-30 lead into the final period.
"She's tough, she sat the whole first half and when she got in there she hit shots, she forced turnovers, she attacked," Baker said.
Plassmeyer scored Fatima's first eight points in the fourth quarter on her way to a team-high 16 in the game.
Wolfe added 14 and only four Fatima players scored in the contest.
Fatima finished 14-of-53 from the field in the game.
"We just couldn't throw the ball in the hoop tonight," Baker said.
Hermann finished with a 45-24 edge on the boards.
"The way we play, we miss a lot of shots and we need to get some offensive rebounds," Baker said. "But credit Hermann, they didn't give them up.
"Hermann is so big, you really need to be strong inside and we struggled there tonight."
Grosse totaled 16 points to lead four Hermann players in double figures. Allison Stiers added 13, while Quincy Erickson chipped in with 12 and Emma Godat finished with 10.
Stiers had a double-double for Hermann as she grabbed 13 rebounds.
Fatima, the No. 5 seed, ends its season at 17-9. Hermann (18-8), the No. 4 seed, advances to take on top-seeded St. James (26-0) in the semifinals at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.