Salina ? Ottawa’s Lindsey Dieterich couldn’t believe it was happening again.

Last year, the Cyclones blew a 15-point third-quarter lead in a first-round loss to Goodland at the Class 4A state girls basketball tournament.

Wednesday, a 15-point fourth-quarter advantage had all but vanished as Holton, behind an unbelievable shooting effort by Danielle Devader, cut Ottawa’s lead to 48-42 when Devader drilled a long three-pointer from the right wing with 3:01 to play.

“I was like, ‘Oh no, please don’t let it happen again,'” Dieterich said.

It didn’t, because Dieterich  who outscored Devader, 31-27, in their personal shootout  answered Devader’s trey with a long jumper to spark a 10-4 Cyclones run that lifted Ottawa to a 58-46 first-round victory at the Bicentennial Center.

“Caught a glimpse of dejà vu,” Ottawa coach Cliff McCullough said with a chuckle. “It’s huge. You gotta win the first one. If you don’t, you’re going home. We found that out last year.”

Ottawa (23-1), which will play Andale (22-2) at 3 p.m. Friday, made it past the first round of state for the first time since 1994, when the Cyclones finished second in the Class 5A tournament. Early on, though, Wednesday’s game looked like a sloppy practice as neither team could score and both showed some jitters.

Top-seeded Ottawa had scored just one point after nearly seven minutes. This from a team that had been averaging about 70 points a game this season. Holton, however, didn’t take advantage because it was held to two points during the same stretch.

After the first quarter, which produced a combined seven points, the game actually picked up. Dieterich, who also grabbed 10 rebounds, found her shooting touch, and she scored nine points in the second quarter.

Ottawa pulled ahead, but didn’t jump out to a big lead until the final 40 seconds of the half. The Cyclones turned up their defense with a full-court press, producing three turnovers and three easy baskets to give Ottawa a 23-14 halftime advantage.

As soon as Ottawa opened the second half with another run, Devader got hot.

The 5-foot-8 sophomore buried a three from the top of the key, and then came back and hit another two minutes later from the same spot. Devader, who finished the game 6-of-11 from three-point range, popped in two more threes in the final minute of the third to cut Ottawa’s lead to 30-42.

She still wasn’t done, though.

Ottawa, behind a three-point-play by Dieterich and a layup by junior Liz Burks, took its largest lead at 47-32 with 5:14 left. But Holton scored three quick baskets before Devader drained her longest bomb of the game, a 25-footer with a defender in her face.

“I thought we had a hand up on her at 22 feet, she’s still throwing them in,” McCullough said. “That girl’s a ballplayer. And you know she’s a player because she comes out to the state tournament and performs like that.”

Holton’s crowd was going crazy by that point and Ottawa’s largest lead went from 15 to six in two minutes. But fortunately for Ottawa, Devader’s leaning one-handed three-pointer rimmed out and with it, so did Holton’s chances. Dieterich nailed a jumper and the Cyclones sealed victory with eight straight free throws.

“We hung in there,” Dieterich said. “I wanted this game so bad. The seniors don’t want it to end.”

Ottawa 58, Holton 46

HOLTON (8-16)

Danielle McManigal 0-2 4-6 4, Erika Bowser 1-5 0-1 2, Christie Reichart 0-0 0-0 0, Jackie Wilson 3-8 0-0 6, Danielle Devader 8-16 5-7 27, Kristel Morris 0-3 2-2 3, Breann Young 1-2 0-0 2, Taren Tuley 0-1 0-0 0, Jesi Peterson 0-0 0-0 0, Carli Watkins 1-4 0-0 2, Tiffany Spaar 0-0 0-0 0, Kylie Zibell 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 14-42 11-16 46.

OTTAWA (23-1)

Liz Burks 2-10 4-8 8, Katie Sheffield 1-8 2-3 5, Jenny Heck 1-4 2-2 4, Jayme Vance 1-8 1-2 3, Laura O’Connor 0-0 0-0 0, Adrienne Allegre 1-3 0-0 3, Lindsey Dieterich 12-21 7-9 31, Kristin Kay 1-1 0-0 2, Kathryn Sylvester 0-3 2-2 2, Allie Daniels 0-0 0-0 0, Amanda Guenther 0-0 0-0 0, Julie Heck 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-58 18-26 58.

Holton 2 12 16 16 Â 46

Ottawa 5 18 19 16 Â 58

Three-point shooting  Holton 7-18 (Devader 6-11, Young 1-2, Wilson 0-3, Morris 0-1, Zibell 0-1), Ottawa 2-10 (Allegre 1-1, Sheffield 1-7, Burks 0-1, Vance 0-1). Fouls  Holton 22, Ottawa 20. Turnovers  Holton 21, Ottawa 10.