Having failed to knock down Bellaire time and again in their 5A-Region III quarterfinal Tuesday night, the Cinco Ranch girls basketball team wasn’t sure whether it was working off energy or adrenaline in the final quarter.

The Cougars were sure, though, that the Cardinals would attack the paint in the final seconds and try to send the game to overtime. So they stacked the middle, and senior Shantel Nwanguma blocked Jasmine Hartman’s runner in the lane with less than two seconds to secure a 50-48 upset of the nationally-ranked Cardinals at the Aldine Campbell Center.

“We just had to use the great defense we’ve had all year and bring our A game,” Nwanguma said. “She (Dittert) came right down the middle and we collapsed on her and I got a clean block. We stopped them.”

Cold.

Not only did Bellaire defeated Cinco Ranch 91-47 in their season-opening meeting, but the Cardinals (37-2) entered Tuesday night ranked eighth in the nation.

Briana Gilbreath scored 15 points and sophomore Dede Nwanguma added 14 for the Cougars (28-7), who repelled run after run to advance into a regional semifinal against Fort Bend Marshall at 6 p.m. Friday at the Campbell Center.

“I’ve bought some stock in Imodium, I know that,” Cinco Ranch coach Eric Bartlett said. “This is what you play them all for, to get ready for this time of year. We always focus on playing the good teams early so we can be here later on, instead of being the best we can be right away.”

Gilbreath’s up-and-under basket with 2:43 left gave Cinco a 48-46 lead, and she and Kelsey Clinch combined to make 2-of-4 free throws in the final 22 seconds.

“I looked at Bri (after missing her first free throw) and she told me ‘no big deal,’” Clinch said. “When that next one went in, I was so excited.”

Bellaire’s Jasmine Hartman and Tamara Marion each were held to 10 points. Another usual double-digit scorer, Tamara Torru, was shut out.

The Cardinals controlled the tempo throughout but the Cougars led 31-19 late in the second half.

Bellaire awakened late. Freshman Courtney Dunham’s 3-pointer in the final minute of the half sparked a closing 9-2 run, and Bellaire held Cinco Ranch to just one field goal in the first 6 minutes, 35 seconds of the third quarter.

The Cardinals took a 39-38 lead on Zoe Rogers’ 3-pointer with 2:03 left in the third.

Their control didn’t last long, though. Cinco opened the fourth quarter with a 6-2 run, four of those points coming from Dede Nwanguma, and didn’t trail again.

“We caught our second wind,” Gilbreath said. “We were not ready to lay down. And we took it to them.”

Asked how he felt knowing a return trip here is in the offing, Bartlett paused.

“How do you answer that?,” he said. “We’re looking forward to it.”

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