DANVILLE — A quick glance at the official stats from a game typically tells the story.

The team that has fewer turnovers, forces more miscues, and a better overall shooting performance typically comes out on the winning end.

In Wednesday’s Class 1A Schlarman Regional semifinal, the host Hilltoppers turned the ball over 12 times (only three combined in the second and third quarters), swiped 12 steals, made 50 percent of their free throws, and outscored the Armstrong-Potomac Trojans 19-18 in the second half.

Meanwhile, the Trojans coughed the ball up 18 times , watched their offensive production decline as the game went on, and shot an ugly 3 of 15 from the free throw line.

But the Trojans never trailed in the contest and pulled out a 42-38 win to advance to tonight’s 7:30 p.m. championship game against top-seeded Urbana University.

It is only the third trip to a regional title game for the Trojans in the last 10 years. Armstrong-Potomac last won a regional title in 2004.

Armstrong-Potomac coach Nick Hipsher saw the possibility early this season of his team making it back to the title game.

“We had every girl back from last season except one player,” Hipsher said. “We won 18 last year. You’ve really started to see us grow from the beginning of the year to the end of the year. We’ve got three seniors who are really good leaders for us, and we’ve got some younger girls that were in this position last year. I think experience has been huge, and I think that is why we’ve been successful this year.”

The Trojans led by as many as 10 in the first quarter before the Hilltoppers made an impressive comeback to finish the first quarter trailing only 12-11.

But Armstrong-Potomac never gave up its lead, despite a veteran performance from Schlarman’s lone senior, Tanna Petersak.

Petersak scored a game-high 17 points and hit a crucial three early in the third quarter that tied the game at 24-24. That was as close as the Hilltoppers would get.

“I knew it was going to be a tough game,” Petersak said. “I knew that we had to come out here strong and play good at the beginning and not put our heads down, and expect to win. We have been preparing for them for a long time, and we knew it wasn’t going to be an easy game. We knew we were going to have to come out here and put all of our hearts into it and get ready for an intense game. We knew they have really good players and a great coaching staff.”

Armstrong-Potomac’s performance at the free-throw line game Schlarman even more optimism that they could pull off the upset. The Trojans did not hit a free throw until just over five minutes remaining in the game.

It was junior Erika Sieberns that finally got her team over the hump. She made two of her four in the contest and scored a team-high 16 points.

“We were just wanting to come out and give it all we’ve got,” Sieberns said. “We had to leave it on the court and not let up. We didn’t want to have that ‘What if’ feeling.”

They almost had that feeling when Petersak had an open three-point attempt in the final seconds of the game that would have given the Hilltoppers their first lead of the game. But the shot was just off the mark, and the Trojans were able to hold on for the win.

Throughout the contest, Schlarman coach Keith Peoples simply hoped his team would keep a tough mind and realize their opportunity.

“My mindset was, I hope these girls are taking advantage of this opportunity,” Peoples said. “It was a hostile crowd. We have not been in this situation often. Deep down inside, I didn’t want to put more pressure on the girls to perform at a certain level. I just wanted them to respond favorably. And they did. For the most part, we made some big plays. Our inexperience was exposed today. But I’m pleased with their efforts.”

Janelle Marion scored 10 points and had 12 rebounds for the Hilltoppers. Sarah Reardon and Brooke Markwalder each scored eight for the Trojans.