STEUBENVILLE — It was a much-anticipated rematch with the reward of a district final berth to the winner.

Beaver Local’s and Carrollton’s boys basketball teams hooked up in an intense, defensive-dominated four-quarter battle in their D4 district semifinal played before a large crowd in the Crimson Center Tuesday night.

Fifth-seeded Carrollton took as much as a 16-point fourth-quarter lead and watched fourth-seeded Beaver Local roar back to pull within two possessions (54-50) before the Warriors hit four free throws in the final 1:20 to post a hard-earned 58-56 win over the Beavers.

“I’m so proud of this group, even without the comeback, this was an incredible season and the ride we’ve been on,” said Beaver Local coach Nick Miller. “We set school records left and right and look at this (large) community that showed up for us tonight.”

With the tough setback, Beaver Local closed out the season at 17-7.

“I’m shook up for my guys, but we left it all out there,” said Miller. “This senior group, they lead the school with 53 wins, which is a school record.”

With the win, Carrollton improved to 16-7. Carrollton’s seven losses this season were to teams in Alliance (twice), West Branch, Canfield, Steubenville, Cambridge and Minerva with a combined record of 132 wins and just 29 losses.

“We kind of lost our bearings a little bit in the fourth quarter,” said Carrollton coach Mike Ackerman. “We had some younger guys in there because we were in foul trouble, but at the end of the day, tournament basketball is about surviving and advancing. There’s no beauty pageants.”

The win sends the Warriors into the Division IV district title game against defending D4 state champion Maysville (23-1) at 7 p.m. Friday at Claymont High School. Maysville defeated East Liverpool 78-36 in Tuesday’s other district semifinal.

“At the end of the day, we’re playing in the district championship and we have nothing to lose against the defending state champions,” stated the Carrollton coach.

Leading Beaver Local, as he’s done his entire career, was returning All-Ohio senior center Owen Hill with a team-high 17 points, despite playing in obvious pain from a foot injury.

“Owen Hill is a load,” said Aukerman. “He’s going to West Liberty and he’s good and hit some shots.”

“(He’s had that foot injury) probably since the second week of January,” said Miller of Hill’s determined effort. “I give him a lot of credit for gutting it out. In the last 25 years, he’s the best player to come through our hallways. We’re going to miss him.”

Complementing Hill in the scoring column for the Beavers were Luke Rettos and Nicolas McKenzie with nine points each, Peyton Cowdery added eight, Aiden Dray finished with seven and Matt Anderson had six points.

Leading Carrollton, which placed three players in double figures were Jayven Johnson, who tallied 17 points before fouling out late in the game. Teammates Tayvian Johnson and Marcus Brooks had 13 points apiece and Tre Cameron had eight markers.

Carrollton, which finished third in the Eastern Buckeye Conference, won a regular-season meeting at Beaver Local, 68-58, on Jan. 3 and Aukerman knew the rematch with Beaver Local would be a challenge.

“We really challenged our guys at halftime because the first time we played them, we had 42 rebounds and really manhandled them on the glass, and at halftime tonight, we were down seven rebounds,” he said. “(The Beavers) did a good job in the second quarter rebounding and I challenged our guys to be more physical and to want it more and be hungry for the ball. And in the first couple possessions of the third quarter we made that run and we were getting offensive rebounds. I think on one possession we had four rebounds and finally got an “and one.”

After Carrollton took first-half quarter stop leads of 12-10 and 29-23, the Warriors began the third quarter on a 7-0 run to go up 36-23 and stretched the advantage to 15 points (48-33) at the end of the third quarter.

“We were down and we challenged them, what are we going to do?,” praised Miller of his team’s spirited fourth-quarter comeback.

The Beavers outscored the Warriors 17-6 to draw within four points (54-50) following a layup by Luke Rettos with just 1:00 left in the game. But Carrollton, despite being in foul trouble and using some backups in the lineup late, went to a deliberate style of offense and eventually forced the Beavers to foul to stop the clock. Carrollton hit four clutch free throws to offset two baskets, including a three-pointer by Nicolas McKenzie at the buzzer, to post the two-point victory.

“My assistant said, hey, do we want to rest somebody (due to overall foul trouble) in the fourth quarter, and I said, no, there are no tomorrows, let’s ride with the starters and trust they don’t foul out,” said Ackerman. “A couple sophomores made some big free throws down the stretch and that was big.”

“Carrollton did the job tonight,” said Miller.

Miller said he will miss his talent-laden Beaver Local senior class which created so many memories for their fans over their careers.

“I’m blessed to have this job,” he said. “I’m blessed to make an impact on these kids and I hope the lessons that they’re learning and the adversity they’re going through is going to carry them through life, then I know I’m doing something right.”

CA: 12-17-19-10–58

BL: 10-13-10-23–56

CARROLLTON SCORING: Drew Gero 0-0-0, Tayvian Johnson 5-3-13, John Bajornas 0-1-1, Marcus Brooks 6-1-13, Tre Cameron 2-3-8, Isaac Husted 0-0-0, Jayven Johnson 8-0-17 Paycen Havens 0-0-0, Hunter Allison 1-2-4, Alex Carlisle 0-0-0, Pryce Rodgers 0-2-2. TEAM TOTALS: 22, 12-14: 58.

BEAVER LOCAL SCORING: Owen Hill 6-3-17, Matt Anderson 2-2-6, Luke Rettos 4-1-9, Nicolas McKenzie 3-1-9, Aiden Dray 2-2-7, Tucker McElroy 0-0-0, Peyton Cowdery 2-2-8. TEAM TOTALS: 19, 11-18: 56.

Three-point goals: Carrollton 5 (Tayvian Johnson 3, Tre Cameron 1, Jayven Johnson 1). Beaver Local 7 (Peyton Cowdery 2, Owen Hill 2, Nick McKenzie 2, Aiden Dray 1).

Total fouls: Carrollton 18, Beaver Local 20. Fouled out: Jayven Johnson (C).