For a basketball coach, it was a nightmare scenario.

You're clinging to a one-point lead early in the fourth quarter of a tournament game and your top scorer commits her fourth foul, forcing you to take her out.

But instead of the disaster that nearly everyone in the Olentangy Liberty gym anticipated, the Dublin Scioto girls basketball team surprised the masses.

With junior forward Crystal Murdaugh on the bench for nearly five minutes, the Irish sprinted off to a 9-0 run to pull away from Westerville North and secure a 44-39 victory in a Division I Central district semifinal Monday night.

"It's neat to see different kids step up," said Scioto coach Todd Hardesty. "Crystal did not have her typical night."

"Everyone knows Crystal is the dominant player," said Scioto junior forward Emma Culp, "but we all just worked really hard. We just have to stay focused."

Culp sparked the run, scoring six crucial points that helped wipe out a 34-33 North lead in the final five minutes.

"You have to give them credit," said Warriors' coach Jim Kloepfer. "When Murdaugh goes out with four fouls I thought we totally had the advantage. We didn't come through like I thought. You've got to give them a lot of credit.

"I thought when she went out we could pressure them, but no. I thought we were going to be in good shape."

Murdaugh still scored 13 points, trailing only Culp's 14. Culp also ripped down seven rebounds, five offensive.

Junior guard Jessica Williams led North with 15 points, while junior forward Breona Moore added 10.

To reach Monday's semifinal, the Warriors handled Marion-Franklin in a second-round match last Wednesday, 62-35. The Irish defeated Whetstone last Wednesday, 54-16.

Now Scioto's storybook season will continue. The second-seeded Irish (22-2) will play for the program's first-ever district title, facing No. 7 seed Pickerington North (18-5) Saturday at 2 p.m., also at Liberty.

A year ago, another promising Scioto season came to a close at the hands of Pickerington North in a district semifinal. On Saturday, the Irish will get a shot at payback.

"We have to bring it at them," Culp said. "They're a really good team. We just have to stay focused and work really hard."

"It's a pretty good script," Hardesty said. "We like it a lot."

Hardesty also liked the way his team stayed focused Monday night despite a handful of mistakes.

"You cannot get caught up in those moments," he said. "You've got to weather storms. It's a classic sports cliche, but in a game like this, you know that's going to happen. I'll put our first five or six in a war against just about anybody. We don't stop battling."

The Irish battled back from a six-point deficit in the second quarter to take a three-point lead into the third.

"We had some silly turnovers," Kloepfer said. "We gave it back to them. A couple of them were unforced. You've got to protect the basketball and we didn't do that."

North, which won a district title a year ago, finishes its season with a 14-9 record.