Findlay never made it past the Division I girls basketball regionals in the previous two seasons to claim the regional championship.

All that changed yesterday when the Trojans beat Central Catholic 49-43 for the coveted regional title.

Findlay, which had defeated the Irish by one point in a regular-season meeting, wouldn't be denied its first regional crown and the team's first trip to the state tournament. Carlee Roethlisberger scored a game-high 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds as Findlay took a 30-29 edge into the fourth quarter and never lost the lead.

The Trojans (21-4) received a major offensive boost from Christina Cruce, a 6-foot-3 junior, who came off the bench to score 12 points, two points off her career-best output.

The Trojans will play at 8 p.m. Friday in a semifinal in Columbus.

"You don't look so much at it as us being due, it's more a humbling experience," Findlay coach Connie Lyon said. "It could have easily been [Central Catholic].

"You always just want to win the next game. In some ways it's surreal, in other ways we've worked hard to get here."

The Irish, who led by as many as six points early in the second quarter, fell short of making a return trip to the state tournament since the 2000-01 season.

Sharise Calhoun scored 12 of her team-high 15 points in the second half to keep Central (18-8) within striking range of Findlay. Brianna Jones provided 10 points and seven rebounds for the Irish, who last owned a lead late in the third quarter when Danielle Lewis (six points) made 1 of 2 free throws with 47.1 seconds left in the quarter to put Central ahead 29-28.

Jonette McQueen (seven points) scored to give the Trojans a 30-29 lead after three quarters.

"I'm proud of our kids," Central coach Steve Pfahler said. "We're disappointed and it hurts us right now, but there's a lot to be proud about."

The Irish were guilty of 16 turnovers, the Trojans 10.

"This is a very new experience for us," Calhoun said. "We hadn't been here. Findlay has been here three times. After we got used to it we played our game."

Cruce, with just over two minutes left in the opening quarter, made her first basket to give Findlay an 8-6 lead.

"It's so amazing, it really is," Cruce said. "It's been three games since I last scored, so I really wanted this."

"She [Cruce] comes in off the bench and every once in a while she gives us a spark," said Roethlisberger. "Today, she was calling for the ball. She was confident."

For the Irish, who return the core of their team next season, their late-season run came to a halt at a place in the season not even their coach would have imagined earlier in the year.

"Maybe with the loss we'll be more focused next year," Pfahler said. "It took us half the season to start believing."

"Our team unity is the big difference now [more] than earlier in the season," Calhoun said. "This is a motivation for us. We now know what it took to get here. We don't know if we'll get back here, but now we know what we have to do to get here."

Roethlisberger became the school's all-time leading scorer in the third quarter.

Roethlisberger has 1,612 points, topping the 1,607 by Amy Jauert.