DAYTON — Brookville suffered a heartbreaking district final loss in overtime Wednesday night to Mariemont 78-70 at U.D. Arena to end a remarkable basketball season with a final record of 18-7.

For just over three quarters Brookville was in total control and then the gods of basketball turned their back on the Blue Devils.

Mariemont ended the game on a 28-12 run as the Warriors earned their second District Championship in three years. Mariemont will now face Versailles in the regional semifinal Wednesday night at 8 p.m. at Trent Arena.

For Brookville seniors Jace Wood, Brendan Fisher, Cole Crabtree, Keegan Mehr, and Coltin Lawson saw their high school basketball careers come to an end.

However, the accomplishments of the seniors, and every member of the team will be long remembered at Brookville. The Blue Devils set team school records for three-pointers in a season with 156 and for total points in a season with 1,629.

Dom King, Nathan Waggoner, Braedan Smart were all part of the top eight and gave some great minutes and memories during the season. Brookville’s JV team finished with 16 wins on the season also.

To the game, Brookville was in control from the start. The Blue Devils led 15-9 after the first quarter, 28-21 at the half, and 47-35 heading into the final quarter.

The Blue Devils scored first in the fourth quarter and led 49-35 when things changed. Mariemont began hitting three-pointers, five in the final period and two in overtime.

Brookville shots would not fall during the Warriors rally. It was still 58-49 Brookville with just three minutes remaining. Mariemont then scored 11 straight including a basket with under a minute left to take a 60-58 lead.

Brendan Fisher hit a pair of free throws with 29.7 left in the game to tie the contest at 60. The Warriors missed a shot and Brookville was unable to launch a shot after snaring the rebound.

In overtime, Brookville missed two layups and a long three-pointer. Mariemont then drained a three by Noah Theye to take the lead and never looked back. Brookville never got closer than two points the rest of the way as shots would not drop with several spinning out.

The Warriors hit another three and then made 12 of 16 free throws in the extra four minutes and walked off the court with a 78-70 victory.

“They have three guys that shoot the three for over 40 percent and four more that shoot it close to 40 percent,” noted Brookville coach Jeff Davidson. “You give them a little bit and they will take a lot. I think we just got a little gassed down the stretch.”

Mariemont shot 53 percent in the final quarter including five of eight from three-point land and two of four in overtime, both trifectas. For the game, the Warriors made 25 of 51 for 49 percent including nine of 16 from three-point land.

“I wouldn’t take anything back,” Davidson said. “The drives that Crabtree and King took that went in the basket early kind of went away late in the game. I don’t know if it was fatigue or what, but they were taking the same drives and taking the same shots and there were three or four that just wouldn’t fall.

“Mariemont went down the court and just banged some huge threes,” Davidson said. “It’s easy to sit here and wonder if we should have gone into four-corner stall mode stuff. If you do that and then you turn it over then you would second guess about whether you should have run it inside.”

Davidson said his players won this year by playing aggressive and put his trust in them 100 percent.

“It just wasn’t meant to be down the stretch tonight,” Davidson added. “It’s hard to swallow. I’m disappointed for the kids. They put so much into it and to be where we were… you start wondering if we get two more stops what’s it look like? The kids fought their tails off. That’s all you can ask them to do and demand of them. They demanded of each other too. When you want something so bad, it hurts.”

The Warriors made 19 of 25 free throws. Scoring shows Charlie Tully with 27 points; Sam Stalzer 22; and Noah Theye 12. Mariemont had 14 assists, 10 turnovers, eight steals, and had 18 fast break points.

Brookville shot 49.1 percent making 27 of 55 tries including six of 18 from three-point land. Brookville was 10-13 from the foul line. The Blue Devils had 27 rebounds, eight assists, 11 turnovers, and six steals. Brookville had 36 points in the paint, nine second chance points and ten points off the bench.

Individual stats show Dom King with a career high 25 points, four rebounds and three assists. Jace Wood had 16 points, and four rebounds. Braedan Smart added 10 points and four rebounds. Brendan Fisher had nine points and seven rebounds. Cole Crabtee scored six points. Keegan Mehr added four markers.

Brookville finished 18-7 on the season and had a remarkable run in the tournament. It was a glorious season overall with a really tough ending.