LANCASTER — Oak Hill had to become a tortoise to keep South Point from becoming the hare.

By slowing the game down in the second half, the Oak Hill Lady Oaks kept the South Point Lady Pointers out of their fast-paced style and rallied for a 50-45 win Saturday in the Division III regional championship game.

“The second half they were real patient and went inside. They went after specific things,” said Lady Pointers’ coach Dave Adams. “We weren’t patient and they did a real nice job with their zone.”

Playing in their first-ever regional title game, South Point raced to a 12-3 lead at the start of the game.

Jalynn Bradburn began the game with a 3-pointer, Tinesha Taylor had five points in the surge and Kayla Fletcher knocked down a trey at the 4:02 mark of the first quarter to give South Point its 12-3 lead.

Oak Hill used 3-pointers by Taylor Hale and Karissa Adkins to climb back to within 14-11 at the end of the quarter.

“We knew we’d have some runs and they would have some runs,” said Adams. “We told the girls if we jump out by 10, they’re going to come back. If they jump out by 10, we’re going to come back. It went that way the whole game.”

South Point used another scoring run at the start of the second quarter to lead 20-11 as Angelica Stewart and Bradburn made layups and Fletcher scored from the baseline off a deflected pass with 6:20 on the clock.

Oak Hill came back to take a 24-23 lead on a layup by Kelsey Burton with 1:38 to go in the half, but a foul shot by Ericka Leighty and two free throws by Taylor with 32 seconds left put South Point in front 26-24 at the break.

Bradburn hit a triple to start the second half just as she did the game and South Point led 29-24. He layup at the 7:17 mark had South Point up 31-26.

But then Oak Hill started its comeback.

A 13-0 run capped by Lakin Caudill’s layup off a pass from Hale put the Lady Oaks ahead 39-31 with 1:30 left in the quarter.

Fletcher hit from the baseline to halt the run only to have Breanna Butler nailed a trifecta for a 42-33 lead.

Taylor’s layup just before the end of the quarter cut the deficit to 42-35.

After the Lady Oaks went up 46-38 to start the fourth quarter, five straight turnovers that included four steals by Fletcher led to two baskets and South Point was within 46-42 with 3:43 to play.

But the Lady Oaks — who were just 1-of-1 from the field in the fourth quarter — began to freeze the ball and forced South Point to foul.

Oak Hill converted 4-of-6 attempts to seal the victory.

Despite the loss, Adams could only praise his team’s effort.

“We battled. We really, really battled. We lost by five and it is disheartening, but we battled. We lose one senior and Leighty always played hard,” said Adams.

Bradburn scored 18 and Fletcher had 14 points and eight steals for South Point (22-3). Taylor had seven rebounds but the Lady Pointers managed only four rebounds as a team in the second half to 15 for Oak Hill.

“We did a good job on the boards in the first half, especially on the offensive end. But they did a good job screening us off the boards in the second half,” said Adams.

Adkins had 13 points and Puckett 12 for Oak Hill. Caudill added 10 points and 10 rebounds off the bench.

Oak Hill, state runners-up in 2004, will be making its second Final Four appearance.

Oak Hill 11 13 18 8 = 50

South Point 14 12 9 10 = 45

OAK HILL (24-1)

Player FG 3pt FT Reb. F TP

Taylor Hale 1-3 1-2 2-2 4 2 5

Breanna Butler 2-4 1-2 0-0 0 1 5

Rebecca Puckett 5-8 0-0 2-2 6 3 12

Mikie Strite 1-3 1-3 0-3 3 2 3

Karissa Adkins 4-7 1-3 4-5 1 2 13

Kelsey Burton 1-2 0-0 0-0 4 3 2

Lakin Caudill 2-3 0-0 6-8 10 2 10

Taylor Butler 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Totals 16-31 4-10 14-20 28 15 50

Assists: 7 (Hale 2, Adkins 2, Strite 1, Burton 1, T. Butler 1). Steals: 3 (Puckett 2, T. Butler 1). Deadball/team rebounds: 4. Turnovers: 22. Blocked shots: Caudill 2. Fouled out: None.

SOUTH POINT (22-3)

Player FG 3pt FT Reb. F TP

Allison Mitchell 1-5 0-0 0-1 1 2 2

Kayla Fletcher 6-15 2-4 0-0 3 1 14

Ericka Leighty 0-3 0-0 1-2 3 5 1

Jalynn Bradburn 7-19 2-4 2-3 4 5 18

Tinesha Taylor 2-6 0-0 4-7 7 2 8

Angelica Stewart 1-1 0-0 0-0 1 0 2

Ashley Goodall 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0

Totals 17-50 4-9 7-13 19 15 45

Assists: 4 (Mitchell 2, Fletcher 1, Bradburn 1). Steals: 10 (Fletcher 8, Mitchell 2). Deadball/team rebounds: 2. Turnovers:12. Blocked shots: Taylor 1. Fouled out: Bradburn (4th 1:13), Leighty (4th 0:39).