Greenville's Sara Woodgeard stops in the lane to pull up for a shot guarded by Doniphan's Erin Pennington (14) as Chelsea Swindle reaches out for the ball Wednesday night during the OFC Tournament in Broseley. (Brad Hurt/DAR) [Click to enlarge]

By BRAD HURT ~ DAR Sports Writer

BROSELEY -- There will be another meeting between Naylor and Greenville and this one will decide the Ozark Foothills Conference championship.

Greenville controlled the beginning of each half to defeat Doniphan 56-45 Wednesday, moving into the championship game of the OFC girls bracket.

The top two seeds will play at 6:30 p.m. Friday at the Bess Activity Center.

"It was one of the biggest atmospheres for us, especially right at this moment to get the win that we knew we should," Greenville coach Diane Meyer said.

The Lady Bears (17-3) scored the first seven points of the second half to erase a one-point halftime deficit and build a lead they never surrendered. Lindsay Henson opened the half with a 3-pointer and a jumper, and Sara Woodgeard added a jumper of her own to push the advantage to 32-26.

"We didn't come out in the third quarter after halftime," Doniphan coach Jimbo Blackwell said. "We had the game going the way we wanted, and we didn't come out in the third quarter ready to play."

The Donettes began the third quarter by missing their first three shots from the floor and turning the ball over twice.

Erin Pennington trimmed Greenville's lead to 32-31 on a layup with 4:16 remaining in the third quarter, but the Lady Bears closed the quarter on an 11-4 run.

The Donettes got to within six points in the fourth quarter after Chelsea Swindle sliced through the lane for a layup with just over four minutes remaining before Greenville scored the final five points.

Swindle led the Donettes in scoring with 14 points.

Woodgeard led the way for Greenville with 24 points, including a pair of putbacks, while Lindsay Henson added 11, Kaylin Becker eight and Porter seven.

"Sara does a really good job crashing the offensive boards," Meyer said. "I just think that everybody played up to their potential tonight on our ball team."

The Donettes jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the first quarter before the Lady Bears went inside to Woodgeard and got key baskets. Greenville took a 17-10 lead after one quarter but the Donettes rallied.

The Lady Bears displayed great mental toughness throughout the game, something their coach appreciated.

"It was a mental hurdle, but we're done with that and I'm proud of that," Meyer said. "The girls, whenever it got physical and got rough, they just got mentally tough, played all the way through it, and didn't expect anything."

Another key to the Lady Bears' success came from the bench, where reserves came into the game and did everything Meyer asked them to do. Swope tallied three points in the game, and Megan Montgomery added a basket off the bench as well.

"I got great minutes out of my subs," she said. " I had kids off the bench stealing and trying to get layups. I got big minutes out of my big girl, Lauren Swope. She came in for Tara (Porter) and scored three or four points."

Doniphan will face Twin Rivers for third place at 6:30 p.m. tonight in Broseley.