An impressive late season run came to an end Thursday night for the Gibault Catholic High School girls basketball team. 

The Hawks (12-19) battled a tough Marissa squad to overtime before finally falling 28-25 in the Class 1A New Athens Regional final.

Gibault had won five straight contests entering the title game against a team it had lost to in overtime earlier in the season. 

In a low-scoring, turnover-laden affair, the Hawks trailed 13-7 at halftime but clawed back to end regulation tied at 22-22.

“Unfortunately for us, the shots we had been making to lead us on a five-game winning streak didn’t manage to fall that night,” Gibault head coach Dakota Street assessed.  

Street said it was likely his squad had “run out of gas” due to playing its sixth game in 10 days.

“The girls gave it their best effort and we just couldn’t get over the hump tonight to get the elusive regional championship that we were hoping for,” he said. “Hats off to Marissa on playing a great game and keeping us in check all night.”

Marissa, which downed Valmeyer to reach the regional final, was able to keep Gibault senior Bri Baldridge from doing much scoring damage. She averaged nearly 12 points per game this season to lead the Hawks.

“Their big girl down low blocked or altered so many shots that we just couldn’t get our normal scoring down low,” Street said.

Also falling in regional tournament action was Waterloo. 

The Bulldogs (13-18) had the benefit of hosting East St. Louis to open Class 3A regional play last Tuesday, but the home court advantage was not enough in a 51-39 defeat.

Waterloo only trailed 18-15 after one quarter, but that was the closest it would come to grounding the Flyers.

Liv Colson, a senior, scored 12 points to lead the Bulldogs in her final game. Colson, who also stars in soccer during the spring, averaged just below 11 points per game this season for Waterloo.