COVINGTON — Anna battled back to tie the score in the fourth quarter, but the same person who was largely responsible for creating the need for a comeback was responsible for again putting the game out of reach: Jenna Brumbaugh.

Brumbaugh, a junior guard and the top scorer in the Three Rivers Conference, finished with 33 points and came up with a big basket in the fourth quarter of a Division III sectional opener on Thursday at Covington High School.

Anna had overcame a 20-point deficit to tie it, but Brumbaugh came up with a three-point play to break the tie, and the Bulldogs led the rest of the way in a 57-52 win.

The No. 7 seed Rockets finish the season 11-12 overall. While they’re not happy with the loss, coach Randy Huber said the team’s resiliency was on display in the second half.

Milton-Union led 37-17 late in the second quarter, but the Rockets battled back to tie it 49-49 late in the fourth.

“All season long, there’s never been a doubt on effort,” Anna coach Randy Huber said. “They sell out their body. They leave half their skin on the floor. There’s never been a question of effort about this group.

“We talked at the end of the third quarter, when you expend that kind of energy, you can get up to the peak, but it’s hard getting over the peak.

Brumbaugh scored 24 points in the first half to help the upstart No. 6 seed Bulldogs (18-5) take a 41-24 halftime lead.

She managed two field goals in the second half; all of Milton-Union’s players struggled to hit shots in the half.

Anna senior guard Brenna Cobb guarded Brumbaugh most of the half.

“We’ve never really had to face guard anybody the whole year, and we didn’t have a good understanding of it in the first half,” Huber said. “We thought close was close enough. The second half, Cobb took care of her most of the time. On tradeoffs, anybody who had her understood it wasn’t about any other part of the game. You were reading her numbers on her shirt, and that’s all you were interested in.”

The Rockets slowly battled their way back. They outscored Milton 15-4 in the third quarter (with the last two points coming on a buzzer-beater by Cobb) to pull within 45-39, then continued to rally in the fourth.

Freshman center Adyson Bales made a put-back, drew a foul and made a free throw with 5:47 left to cut the gap to two points at 46-45.

“We were able to get into our sets more in the second half because we were patient,” Huber said. “We weren’t getting it up the court too fast and turning it over, like we did some (in the first half).”

Milton’s Ava Berberich made a 3 with about five minutes left to push the gap back to four, but Bales made another put-back with 4:06 left, then Cobb made two free throws with 3:11 left to tie it 49-49.

After killing over 30 seconds on the next possession, Brumbaugh drove in and made a spectacular shot as she was fouled. She made the free throw to give the Bulldogs a 52-49 lead.

Milton-Union coach Katie Roose was called for a technical foul with 1:41 left. Cobb split a pair of free throws, and the Rockets turned it over soon after.

Brumbaugh split a pair of foul shots with 1:06 left to give Milton a 53-50 lead. Cobb made a pair of free throws with 58 seconds left to cut the gap to one, but Berberich responded with a pair eight seconds later to push the gap back to three.

Anna turned it over on its next possession and was forced to foul. Berberich made another two foul shots to push the gap to five and solidify the win.

The Rockets had several late attempts but couldn’t get one to fall to cut the gap under five.

Bales finished with 15 points, 11 of which came in the second half.

“She did a super nice job,” Huber said.

Cobb led the squad with 16. She was named first team all-Shelby County Athletic League when the league released its all-star teams earlier on Thursday. It was the second straight year she was first team all-SCAL.

“The rest of her team shows the effort she has, because it all starts with her,” Huber said. “Everybody catches it and wants to do it. She puts it out there like that, and everyone wants to model it, be that same way. Hard-nosed. Gritty. Aggressive. Get after it.”

The Rockets will also lose senior forward Jenna Wolters and senior guard Zandria Platfoot to graduation. Wolters finished with eight points.

“Jenna Wolters just all year long has been aggressive and hard-nosed in her own fashion,” Huber said. “She’s not going to get cheated. She’s going to put it out there. Her best move is that baseline, and she used it regularly tonight.

“… Zanadria, we didn’t get her enough playing time today. With the speed of the game, it just didn’t fit in quite as well as we hoped it would.”

Berberich finished with 16 points for the Bulldogs.

Milton-Union advances to face No. 9 Middletown Madison (17-6) in a sectional final on Wednesday.

The Bulldogs finished below .500 two years ago but won 18 games last year and matched that total on Thursday. They lost 44-24 to Anna in a sectional final a year ago.

Reach Bryant Billing at 937-538-4818, or follow @SidneyOHSports on Twitter and @BryantBillingSDN on Facebook.