Eisenhower seemed poised to beat Troy despite the loss of its leading scorer and spiritual leader.

The Colts had other ideas in the Division 1 girls district basketball semifinal game at Utica.

Senior Emily Olson made eight free throws in the fourth quarter and junior Athena Samson scored a game-high 21 points Wednesday to lead the Colts to a 61-52 overtime victory over the Eagles, who played the final 21 minutes, 24 seconds  without DeBeau, a four-year lead guard who had 16 points before she left with an injury late in the first half.

“Losing Lauren hurt, but that’s not why we lost the game,” Eisenhower coach Mike Satawa said “We didn’t execute in the fourth quarter.

“High school sports teaches you about dealing with adversity. As players and coaches, we didn’t deal with it very well. Give Troy all the credit in the world. They made shots.”

Sophomore Calen Knight had 15 points and Olson 11 for Troy, which plays either Utica or Rochester at 6 p.m. Friday for the district championship.

Senior Gaby Schorling had 15 points for Eisenhower (13-8).

Samson scored on a putback, made two free throws and in the final minute grabbed a pair of defensive rebounds to spark the Colts in the overtime.

“We just really wanted to win,” Samson said. “We didn’t want the season to end. We really pushed for each other, the seniors especially.”

Troy missed three of four free throws in the final 42 seconds of regulation time, and Ike forced OT when Olivia Stack made a running right-hander with 11 seconds to go to create a 51-51 tie.

“I was nervous, of course, but I was hype and into it, and I felt like the whole team was,” Samson said of the overtime.

The Colts, who struggled to make shots in the first three quarters, found their marks in the fourth. Knight had a pair of 3-point field goals and Troy opened the quarter on a 14-0 run, tying the game at 45-all on a basket by Kendal Zeiter with 3:33 to play.

Two Olson technical free throws gave the Colts 47-46 lead with 2:40 to play, and Knight’s ensuing 3-pointer 12 seconds later boosted the Troy lead to 50-46, the Colts’ largest of the game to that point.

Schorling’s triple from the top of the key with 2:12 left kept Eisenhower close.

The first half belonged to DeBeau and the Eagles.

DeBeau made a three-point play with 4:51 left in the second quarter and Schorling made a 3-pointer with 2:20 left, and Eisenhower had a 34-19 lead.

But less than a minute later, DeBeau and Troy’s Charlotte Sobotka collided near midcourt.

DeBeau, who had an apparent head injury, was taken to a hospital, Satawa said.

“We haven’t played a lot without her this year. We haven’t played a lot without her for four years,” Satawa said. “It’s more than the basketball with her. It’s the energy she brings.”

The Eagles navigated the third quarter well, using two jumpers by Stack to build a 45-31 lead entering the fourth.

Before the game ended, three Eisenhower players fouled out.