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WHEELING - Given new life as the result of a controversial technical foul against Bishop Donahue with 7 seconds remaining in overtime, Wheeling Central coach Penn Kurtz made what turned out to be right call by putting freshman Colleen McCormick on the free-throw line.

The talented youngster with ice water running through her veins, stepped up with her team trailing by one point and swished both free throws that paved the way for the Maroon Knights' 54-52 victory in the girls' championship game of the Undo's Ohio Valley Catholic Tournament on Tuesday night at Wheeling Jesuit University's Alma Grace McDonough Center.

The disputed call came after Bishop Donahue regained possession of the basketball when a traveling violation was called against Central.

After a timeout, the Bishops lined up looking to inbounds along the right sideline in front of the Maroon Knight bench.

Before the ball could be inbounded, one of the Bishop players was called for shoving Central's Alex Greco to the court, resulting in a technical foul because the clocked was stopped at the time.

Since it was a technical and not a personal foul, Kurtz had the option of choosing the shooter he wanted at the foul line.

''Why Colleen?'' Kurtz responded to the question about putting so much burden on a freshman with the game on the line. ''She has been our best free throw shooter. I was thinking of bringing somebody off the bench but decided not to do it. Bob Robinson has been coaching the jayvees and he suggested we send Colleen to the line. Fortunately for us, she knocked them both down.''

Even worse for the Bishops was that fact that the technical foul also awarded possession of the basketball to the Maroon Knights. Emily Bucon was fouled with 4 seconds remaining and she capped off a fine 13-point evening for herself by netting one of her two free tosses to close the scoring.

''It was very unfortunate to have the game come down to a call like that,'' Kurtz stressed.

He insisted despite howls of protest from the Bishop Donahue bench and fans that his player did not take a dive and wasn't instructed to do so.

''Alex's elbow was bleeding after she hit the floor. We did not talk about setting up such a play during the timeout. What I told them was to get right into them because if they were successful inbounding the ball, we had to foul immediately,'' he said.

The game was a physical battle from the start on both ends of the floor. Bishop Donahue (5-2) came into the clash looking to defend the championship it won last year. But the Bishops had difficulty operating against Central's pressure defense, committing 27 turnovers, many of which were unforced.

''We tried to pressure the ball as much as we could,'' Kurtz said. ''Our problem continues to be on the offensive end of the court. We are still struggling shooting the basketball. Cassie (Sorge) continues to struggle but, you know what, she will get over it soon and we'll be fine.''

Donahue's victory hopes also were hampered by early foul problems that kept 6-foot senior pivot Lacey Hampton on the bench for most of the first half. Just 3 minutes in, Hampton had to come out with two fouls, and she left the court at the 3:04 mark of the second quarter when charged with her third personal.

However, with the Bishops trailing 31-23 and 2 seconds left in the opening half, she re-entered, took an inbounds pass and put the ball off the glass to rally her team to within six points.

Jenna Noice opened the third quarter with back-to-back baskets for the Green and Gold, cutting the margin to 31-29. After Molly Kurtz's baseline one-hander restored the lead back at four, Hampton netted a 3-pointer. She drained another 3-pointer later in the quarter to give the Bishops a 38-37 lead. However, another Kurtz hoop put Central back on top by one entering the final 8 minutes.

The lead changed hands six times in the fourth quarter before Central jumped ahead 48-44 after goals by Caitlin Creighton and Sorge with 3:12 on the clock.

The Maroon Knights didn't score the rest of the quarter and Donahue forced the overtime when Hampton and Sara Carpenter netted two foul shots each.

Hampton and Bucon traded free throws during the first 2 minutes of the overtime. Bucon's drive to the hoop was matched by Hampton's nice shot off the glass for a 51-51 tie. Donahue went up 52-51 when Taylor Barry netted one of two shots from the line at the 15-second mark.

Leading the Donahue scoring was Hampton with 21 points, while Taylor added 13. Bucon had 13 and McCormick tossed in 11 for Central.