Waterford’s Brynnlee Pottmeyer (12) handles the ball as Belpre’s Madi Lauer defends during Saturday’s district final matchup at Southeastern High School. (Photo by Jordan Holland)

CHILLICOTHE — Waterford’s players have heard enough about everything they can’t do.

Saturday, they showed everybody what they can do.

The Wildcats took down a surging Belpre squad 48-26 in the district finals at Southeastern High School, moving on to the Sweet 16 for the third straight season.

This year, though, the journey wasn’t quite as smooth.

“Coming into the season, we kind of didn’t have a good start,” said sophomore Brynnlee Pottmeyer. “We had a younger bench and we weren’t as deep as we were last year. To come out and kind of prove everyone wrong, beating Belpre for the third time, winning TVC and winning districts, it’s a confidence booster for everyone.”

Waterford’s Ava Hurley, left, makes a move with the ball as Belpre’s Megan Carmichael defends during Saturday’s district final matchup at Southeastern High School. (Photo by Jordan Holland)

A starter on last year’s state championship team, Pottmeyer led all scorers with 24 points in Saturday’s win. She powered a Waterford offensive attack that finished 58.6% (17 for 29) from the floor.

“We’re starting to understand where to cut and when to cut now,” said Waterford head coach Jerry Close, whose team had a 7-8 record through 15 games this season. “We’re not forcing as much. That’s the maturity of the team. The times we’ve gotten beat really bad is usually because we turn the ball over too many times or we’re forcing stuff. I’m happy with the way they’ve matured.”

The Wildcats (14-10) have won seven of their last nine games and will take on Central District champion Harvest Prep at 8 p.m. Wednesday at Pickerington North.

“Nobody thought we would win TVC or win districts,” said senior Elsie Malec. “We’re just trying to prove everybody wrong and prove that we can do whatever it takes and go as far as we can.”

Malec, a four-year starter, finished with 13 points against Belpre. Shaeli Hayes led the team with five rebounds while Pottmeyer registered a game-high six steals.

“That’s all they heard in the summer. ‘You guys aren’t gonna win any games.’ And, when we started out the season, we weren’t very good,” Close admitted. “It’s a tribute to — they never quit, never gave up. They just kept getting better each time out.”

Waterford had beaten Belpre twice in the regular season — once by 18 and once by 21 — but the Golden Eagles turned it up a notch when the postseason began.

After claiming a thrilling 53-52 win over Peebles in the first round, Belpre took down second-seeded Coal Grove 38-32 in the district semis.

For Waterford, the plan coming into this game was clear — stop Gracie Bills.

“We knew Gracie Bills was one of our biggest threats,” Pottmeyer said.

“Keep Bills off the boards,” Malec echoed. “Keep her from the middle.”

Bills, coming off a 20-point, 20-rebound performance earlier in the week, finished with eight points and a game-high nine boards. She also led Belpre with four steals.

“Gracie Bills is the key,” Close said. “She’s the best player in our league. It’s a big key for us to keep her contained. I thought we did a really nice job finding her today. We didn’t let her break away very often. That was a big key.”

Julia Way added eight points for the Eagles, who fell one win shy of repeating as district champions. They finished the year with an 8-17 record.

Belpre led 5-2 early in the first quarter, but Waterford closed the period on a 12-0 run and never looked back.

After Way hit a 3-pointer to begin the second quarter, the Wildcats scored 13 unanswered points to go up 27-8. It was 28-10 at halftime and 38-19 after three.

“When we’re making our shots and we’re working as a team, I feel like we have a lot of potential,” Pottmeyer said. “If we keep playing like we are, with high intensity for the rest of tournaments, we’ll go really far this year.”

Harvest Prep comes into Wednesday’s regional semifinal matchup with a 20-3 record. The Warriors beat Northridge 70-44 in the district finals Saturday night.

It’s a tall task for the Wildcats. Doubt them at your own risk.

“I’m just proud of this group to get to this point, because I’d say for about three-fourths of the season, they didn’t think this was possible,” Close said. “We’ve had a couple of long talks this year and made them realize that, ‘Hey, your goals are open.’ We still had a chance to win the league — they went and got a share of the league title. Had a chance to go to regionals — now they’re in regionals. I told them, ‘You get to regionals, anything can happen.’ So that’s what we’re working for.”

Contact Jordan Holland at jholland@mariettatimes.com.