The Batesville Bulldogs had their chances, but so did the Greensburg Pirates.
The Bulldogs looked to be in a position to win at the end, but so did the Pirates.
The two Eastern Indiana Athletic Conference teams were expected to battle it out for the sectional title and they did.
They even needed overtime to decide a winner.
The host Pirates beat the visiting Bulldogs for the third time this season Saturday and this time a title was at stake.
Greensburg knocked off coach Aaron Garrett’s crew 49-48 in overtime.
The Pirates controlled play most of the first half. They led 15-10 at the end of the first quarter and then 25-21 at halftime.
The margin was not as great as it could have been. The Bulldogs were saddled with some foul trouble and forced to sit a couple players with two fouls.
A 3-pointer by Wes Goldsmith and a pair of free throws by Chris Lanning gave the Bulldogs an early lead in the third quarter.
Following an Adam Wilson 3-pointer for the Pirates, Connor Kelley hit a free throw and Cameron Fledderman scored from long range to put the Bulldogs in front 30-28 at the 1:38 mark.
Goldsmith closed out the scoring with a 3-pointer from the corner and the Bulldogs carried a 33-30 lead into the final quarter.
That is when things got a little busier.
The crowd for each school became a little more vocal and the play on the floor just a little more spirited.
The Bulldogs led by as many as six points after five straight points from Fledderman. The Pirates answered with six of their own to knot the score at 38-38 with 3:42 to play in the game.
A field goal by Ty Miller put the Pirates on top at 40-38 with 2:51 to play.
After single free throws by each team, Batesville’s Chris Giesting drove the middle of the lane and scored to tie the game at 41-41 with :30 on the clock.
The Bulldogs fouled Pirate Shawn Burcham with :04 remaining, but a lane violation gave the ball back to Garrett’s crew with a final chance.
Fledderman’s last-minute heroics came up empty and the game went to overtime.
Again Batesville had chances, but could not make it happen.
Trailing 44-43 following a Burcham 3-pointer, the Bulldogs looked to Goldsmith and he came through with his fourth trey of the game to regain the lead at the 1:33 mark.
Greg Dougan came up with one of his biggest shots of the year 43 seconds later. Dougan buried a 3-pointer for the lead at 47-46.
The Bulldog faithful had another reason to cheer a short time later. Cody Cole scored a basket to give the lead back to Batesville.
Garrett called a time-out to set up his defense following the bucket, but things did not go as planned.
Miller was fouled, went to the free throw line and buried both attempts.
Still there was hope for the Bulldogs.
The ball was in their hands and down by only one point.
Sixteen seconds later hopes were dashed as the ball was thrown out of bounds and turned over to the Pirates.
Chris Lanning did steal the inbounds pass, but was too far away from the basket to make much of an attempt.
Goldsmith finished with a team-high 12 points followed by Fledderman with 10.
For a second night in a row, the Bulldogs managed to shoot only 50-percent from the free throw line.
On the other end, the Pirates hit 12 of their 16 attempts from the charity stripe.
The Bulldogs finished the season with only five losses – three of which coming to the Pirates.
Greensburg (20-2) advances to the regional at Shelbyville where they will battle Mt. Vernon.
