Austin Hemmingson | Daily Press Bay College’s Kaitlyn Hardwick shoots a layup in front of Gogebic defenders Aiyana Nickel (24) and Haley Grover (10) during Wednesday’s East Sub-Region 13 Championship game at Bay College.

ESCANABA — There’s an old saying that it’s hard to beat the same team three times in one season.

The Bay College women’s basketball team learned that the hard way at the worst time possible Wednesday night, dropping a heartbreaking 60-57 decision to Gogebic Community College in the East Sub-Region 13 Championship game.

The game swung back and forth throughout, but the ball was in Gogebic’s hands with a chance to win in the final seconds.

After Kaitlyn Hardwick had just tied the game for the Norse with 30 seconds left, the Samsons waited until deep in the shot clock to try to get the final shot. The ball wound up on the left wing in the hands of Kai’Terra Ross, who kicked it up top to an open Airiana White. White was a couple feet behind the 3-point line, but still let it fly anyway. She knew it was good before anyone else did.

“I knew it was going in,” she said. “When it went through, it was kind of mind-blowing. I didn’t expect my teammates to come running out at me like that… It was very exciting. I knew the shot was good when it was going up.”

The Norse called timeout with 0.4 seconds left and had one last chance after advancing the ball to the frontcourt. Hardwick had a good look at a 3-pointer, but the shot had to be rushed and was off the mark as time expired.

The Samsons (13-13) will now host the Region 13 Championship game against United Tribes Technical College Sunday. United Tribes defeated Dakota College 100-83 in another semifinal Wednesday night.

The Norse finished 17-11.

“It’s pretty exciting,” Samsons athletic director Mike Boerman said, who was helping fill in for coach Mark Movrich serving a two-game suspension.

“From what I understand, the women won the first time we ever played (in Jan. 2018 and Bay has one every game since then). It means a lot.

“They came in ready to play today. We’ve got three sophomore players. They were excited and the rest of the team kind of rallied around them. They wanted to make sure we sent them out in style. They played well, they controlled the ball… It’s awesome to see. Just awesome.”

The Samsons led 19-9 after the first quarter, but the Norse outscored them 18-4 in the second to take a 27-23 halftime lead.

For much of the night, it felt like the Norse were going to pull away for yet another victory over their rivals. Their lead grew throughout the third quarter and reached 44-35 by the end of the frame on a buzzer-beating bank shot by Hardwick.

“I felt like the game was a lot bigger than the couple regular season games against them,” Norse coach Matt Gregory said, who was in just his fifth game as head coach. “We pressed most of the game, and I rode a few players maybe longer than I should have. At times we got gassed a little bit, but our team is the type of team that says if we’re not pressuring, then we’re not really playing too hard. It’s a way that we want to make sure that we’re playing at that tempo, and we wanted to make Gogebic make decisions under pressure.”

The Samsons scored 25 points in the fourth quarter, regaining the lead at 48-47 on a layup by Samaiya Buchanan with 6:14 left to play.

After the Norse rallied to tie the score on a few separate occasions, the Samsons gained their largest cushion at 57-52 after a driving layup by Haley Grover with just under two minutes remaining.

“Things were going pretty well for Gogebic tonight,” Gregory said. “They shot the ball incredibly well and they came to play. Hats off to them. We did our best to step up and compete, and I thought the girls did that. It just came down to that shot at the end.”

The Norse then showed the same resilience they’ve shown all season, scoring the next five points on a floater by Brooke Dalgord, a free throw by JuliAnn Wickman and Hardwick’s layup to even the score at 57-all before White’s game-winner.

“My hat’s off to the ladies,” Gregory said. “Obviously, they all stuck through some adversity that happened throughout the season. It was a big trust factor to buy into the principles that we were trying to do, with some little twists here and there. They stepped up and they knew how big game the was.

“I said it was the little things that make championship teams happen, and it was the little things like diving on the floor, taking charges, boxing out and rebounding — the dirty work — that allows you the opportunity to do that. I’m proud of every one of them for their support and their effort… They laid a lot of groundwork moving forward for this program.”

Hardwick and Wickman led the Norse with 18 points each, while Hardwick added seven rebounds.

Grover led the Samsons with 14 points and six rebounds, while White and Aiyana Nickel added 11 points each. Buchanan and Ross each chipped in 10 points.

Gogebic shot 22 for 56 from the field, held a 35-25 rebounding advantage and committed 14 turnovers. The Norse were 21 for 60 and had 11 miscues.

Gogebic CC 19 4 12 25 — 60

Bay College 9 18 17 13 — 57

Gogebic Community College — Wiggins 4, Buchanan 10, Grover 14, White 11, Nickel 11, Ross 10. FT: 7-12; F: 14; Fouled out: None. 3-point field goals: Grover 3, White 3, Ross 2, Wiggins 1.

Bay College — M. Ackerman 1, Wickman 18, Hardwick 18, Dalgord 4, McGuire 10, Mannor 6. FT: 9-14; F: 9; Fouled out: None. 3-point field goals: Wickman 4, McGuire 1, Mannor 1.