Toll Gate, playing without returning leading scorer Hannah McNulty, fell to Classical 30-25 in overtime Tuesday night at Classical High School.

McNulty is expected to miss a couple of weeks for the Titans.

Both teams were scoreless for a few minutes before Classical took a 3-0 lead. The first points came when sophomore point guard Geraldine Gibson banked a 3-pointer off the glass. With just under 11 minutes to go in the first half, Gibson was fouled while making a layup and added a free throw to extend the Classical lead to 5-0.

Marisa Giard hit a jumper for Toll Gate to pull the Titans to within 5-2. On the next possession, Giard got the ball inside to Emily May, who was fouled and went to the line. May added a point and it was 5-3.

After a big defensive rebound by Toll Gate forward Madeleine Hirsch, Hirsch put it in down the other end to tie the game at 5.

Senior Destiny Henderson hit a three to put Classical up 10-7. Then, May added a layup to cut the lead to one. Then, the Lady Titans went up when captain and first-year starter Cassondra Messier went coast to coast for a layup, putting the Titans ahead 11-10 with 3:34 left in the first half.

“Last year she didn’t get a lot of playing time, but she’s smart, she works her tail off and she’s playing with a lot of confidence this year,” Toll Gate head coach John Paolino said of Messier. “She played very well defensively and she’s looking for her shot this year. So, we’re very happy with that.”

Classical junior Iris Bucio put her squad up 12-11 with a driving layup. Toll Gate’s May was fouled inside and made a free throw to tie the game at 12. Toll Gate guard Celia Florio put back a shot off a rebound to put Toll Gate up 14-12. However, Classical’s Bucio would make another layup to tie the game at 14 just before the end of the half.

In the second half, Giard got it inside to May, who missed her first shot attempt before getting fouled and sent to the charity stripe. She made a bucket and Toll Gate went up 15-14 with 14:10 to go. Toll Gate extended its lead when Isabel Donnelly made a shot in front. But, Classical cut the lead to 17-16 when Henderson was fouled while making a layup with 8:17 left in the second half. She would miss the free throw, though. Toll Gate went up 19-18 after a layup from Messier. With 7:20 left in the second half, Toll Gate guard Christina Barry passed ahead to May for an easy layup, putting the Titans up 21-18. Datrice Cooper was fouled and made a free throw to cut the Classical deficit to two.

The teams exchanged scoring. Giard took a pass from Barry in front for two points and then Classical’s Gibson scored to cut the lead to 23-21 and that was the score when the clock stopped with 2:10 left.

Classical had a chance to go up at the free throw line, but Cooper missed both free throws. But, Toll Gate had a key error when Toll Gate junior Taylor Jackson mishandled a pass from Barry, turning over the ball with 1:30 left in regulation. Classical’s Gabriella Fiore would tie it up at 23 on the next possession. Gibson made a layup to put Classical up 25-23 with 39 seconds left. With Toll Gate trailing 25-23 with 9.4 seconds left, Barry passed in from under the net to Giard, who calmly made a layup to tie the game. The two teams went to overtime.

Classical’s Alyssa Alarcon put her team up 26-25 after making one of two free throws. In one sequence, the Toll Gate defense was so tough that Classical suffered a shot clock violation. Nonetheless, with 49.5 seconds left in overtime, Gibson was fouled while trying to score on a putback. She made one bucket to extend the Classical lead to 27-25. Then, Cooper put the game out of reach when she scored a layup during a breakaway, extending Classical’s lead to 29-25 with just 22 seconds left. Classical would go on to win 30-25.

Coach Paolino was happy with his team’s effort despite the loss.

“I’m very pleased,” Paolino said. “At this point, for our first league game to do some of the things that we were able to do and to come back and put it into overtime. I think we should have won the game, but, that being said, at this point compared to where we were last year at this point, I’m happy.”

“The reality is we are getting kids experience and we got a nice veteran mix combined with a younger group that are getting a lot of playing time now.”

Barry, the second-year guard, played the entire game for Toll Gate. “She knows what we expect, she knows what we want to do in transition,” Paolino said. “She did a great job and her defense has really come a long way.”

Toll Gate falls to 0-1 on the young season and will host Davies on Friday at 7 p.m.