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WESTERVILLE — Andy Fishman barely held his emotions back.

Minutes after his Lakota West High's girls basketball team captured the program's first-ever Final Four berth with a 62-48 victory over Dublin Coffman Saturday, March 1, Fishman's eyes welled up while describing the magnitude of the moment.

"This feels great," Fishman said. "This is, as you know, what we wanted to do when we first started out."

West's dream of advancing to the Final Four has come true, thanks to another solid performance from its bench (a 15-3 edge) and clutch free-throwing down the stretch in front of about 2,500 fans at the Rike Center on the campus of Otterbein College.

The Firebirds led by 12 (45-33) entering the final frame, but saw their advantage get sliced to 54-46 on back-to-back 3-pointers from the Shamrocks.

But West nailed its last eight freebies — after previously going 4-of-15 from the line — over the final 1:54 to claim the school's first regional crown.

"We had people step up," West senior Amber Gray said. "We were ready to answer. We knew they'd make a run, and we were waiting for when it was going to happen."

Gray, who scored 10 points, grabbed five rebounds and had three steals, was one of three Firebirds to reach the double-digit column.

Junior Alexis Rogers (18) and senior Quinessa Johnson (11) also notched double figures.

"It's all heart," Johnson said. "We know that we all have each other's back, and we know everyone's going to give it their all."

Rogers' driving layup early in the second quarter kick-started a 12-2 run for the third-ranked Firebirds, who turned an 18-17 deficit into a 29-20 advantage with 1:03 remaining in the first half.

Top-ranked Coffman (25-1) cut it to 29-25 at intermission, but West scored the first four points out of halftime, and behind Stephanie Whitenack's pair of treys, the lead never dipped below seven the rest of the way.

Junior point guard Sam Mackay led the Shamrocks with 19 points and five assists, but committed nine of the team's 19 turnovers.

"The fact that they could beat and lay on us, push and shove us, it becomes a factor," said Coffman coach Mary Ann Grimes, whose squad made one basket in the third quarter. "The physicalness of the game favored them because they're bigger, stronger."

West (25-1) plays Youngstown Boardman (19-7) in the state semifinals at 6 p.m. Friday, March 7, in Columbus.

Contact this reporter at (513) 755-5113 or smatthews@coxohio.com.