By David Vantress

HUNTINGTON — The 2022-23 girls basketball season has come to an end for the Columbia City Eagles.

Columbia City dropped a heartbreaker to perennial rival Homestead in the quarterfinals of the Class 4A Huntington North Sectional Tuesday night, 46-45.

The end of the game, which was a seesaw affair all night, was set up by a foul of Homestead’s Myah Epps on a 3-point shot attempt with O.5 seconds left.

Epps made all three free throws, sandwiched around successive Columbia City time outs.

The Eagles finish 20-3. Despite the disappointing finish in the sectional round, Columbia City won its first conference title since the 1995-96 season.

But Tuesday night, the Eagles and Spartans both struggled to get into a groove on offense. Homestead (17-5) led 11-8 at the first stop and 23-19 at intermission.

The Eagles opened the second half with a quick 5-0 burst to take their first lead of the night at 24-23. The two teams traded the lead the rest of the third stanza, with Columbia City taking a razor-thin 37-36 advantage into the fourth quarter.

It was more back-and-forth between the Eagles and Spartans in the fourth, with the Spartans taking a 43-41 lead with 1:51 left in regulation.

Columbia City tied it again at 43 with 1:32 left on a pair of clutch Tessa Tonkel free throws. The Eagles were able to take most of the remaining time off the clock, and then took a 45-43 lead with 4.4 ticks left on a Molly Baker layup.

That set up the final play. With 1.3 seconds put back on the clock, the Spartans raced the length of the court and Epps took her 3-point shot, drawing the fateful foul.

It was a bitter pill to swallow for Columbia City coach Amy Shearer and her young team.

“We’re disappointed, because winning a sectional was one of our other goals,” Shearer said. “Now we need to find a way to get better, put in the work in the offseason.”

Addison Baxter led Columbia City with 17 points. Tessa Tonkel added 14.

Homestead’s Ali Stephens had 18 points to lead all scorers for the Spartans. Epps added 11.

The Eagles had no seniors, so the entire team will be back in 2023-24. Homestead head coach Rod Parker won his 400th game in a career dating back to 2002.