photo by: Jeff Campbell

Bellaire’s Tamya Morgan goes in for a layup Monday during the Big Reds’ road contest against Shadyside inside the Tigers’ Den. Morgan scored 24 in a double overtime win for Bellaire, 50-46.

SHADYSIDE — Monday’s contest inside the Tigers’ Den was a tug-of-war between the Shadyside Tigers and Bellaire Big Reds, with the two teams both refusing to give in through regulation– and then, through the first overtime.

It took double overtime to decide a winner on Monday, Senior Night for the Tigers, in an eventual 50-46 victory for the Big Reds, who were powered by 24 points from senior Tamya Morgan.

“That was a long one,” Bellaire head coach John Farrier said. “I’m not used to screaming this much. It was a fun crowd. It always is. When you come down here, it’s a fun rivalry game with a good crowd.

Three Bellaire players and two Shadyside players fouled out over the extended span of the game.

“We had a lot of people go in there who don’t normally get in there, had to fill in spots, and Tamya Morgan made some huge shots throughout the game and some other girls made big shots throughout the game as well,” Farrier said. “It was a fun one where everybody got in there and got a chance to contribute in some way. And we’ve been a resilient bunch and tonight showed our resiliency to come up with the win there.”

Going into the second overtime of Monday tied 44-44, Bellaire eeked ahead after Jaela Phillips split a pair of free throws. Shadyside stuck their neck ahead after Cameron Kolvek nailed two free throws, but the final five points of the game all came off the hands of Tamya Morgan.

Morgan made for the final of many lead changes Monday with a cold-blooded 3-pointer from the wing with 2:30 to play, putting Bellaire ahead 48-46.

Shadyside had multiple chances to respond, but couldn’t find the bottom from the perimeter. Morgan made two free throws in four chances the rest of the way, while the Big Reds locked down the Tigers on the other end to secure a victory.

“That was all on her,” Farrier said of Morgan’s long ball. “Because we had some different pieces in there, it was tough to get one of our sets going because we had a hodgepodge of a lineup in there, so it was kind of difficult to get things going there. That was all her on that, she hit some big threes. I don’t know how many she had tonight, but obviously that was the one that kind of put us over the edge there and gave us some distance that we needed there.”

Morgan drilled five 3-pointers Monday. Aubree Hines joined her in double figures with 15.

Shadyside trailed 11-13 after the first quarter, 25-21 at halftime and 34-30 going into the fourth quarter, but tied things early in the fourth after senior Kaci Tsoras converted an and-one inside, and followed with a game-tying 3-pointer. A seven-foot jumper from Kolvek and a score inside from Ali Weatherson made for a tidy 10-2 run, giving Shadyside a 40-36 lead with four minutes to play.

Morgan made a 3-pointer and split a pair of free throws to help tie the game 42-42, and though both teams had opportunities for a go-ahead basket, neither team could budge the scoreboard the rest of regulation.

“I thought it was a good basketball game,” Shadyside head coach Serge Gentile said. “I mean, exciting to watch, exciting to play. I told the girls, those are the games that you like playing in. I mean, it’s against a team five minutes from you, you got to double overtime, the pace is up and down the entire game. They just happened to make a few more plays down the stretch and they got this one.”

Tsoras led Shadyside with 20 points. The senior fouled out in overtime. Aylah Albright scored nine for the Tigers.

Tsoras and fellow senior Ali Weatherson were recognized Monday as part of the Senior Night festivities.

“It was great to celebrate them,” Gentile said. “They both played well, did what they needed to do to contribute to us playing well and having a chance to win. Obviously we’d like to send them out with a win on Senior Night, but we’ve got a couple more home games to go, so they’ll get a chance to play in the Tigers’ Den. So we’re gonna celebrate them. We played well. I thought we got better. Just didn’t make enough plays at the end. Credit to Bellaire, they made the plays when they needed to.”