Alter finished 19-9 and lost the state final for the third time in eight appearances.
Senior Maddie Moody led the Knights with 12 points and nine rebounds while senior Hailey Rees led Bellevue with 16 points.
Bellevue scored first and never trailed.
Audrey Turner made a mid-range jumper shortly after the Lady Red won the opening tip then hit a 3-pointer on the next possession to establish early control of the game for Bellevue.
From then on, the opening 16 minutes were a grind as neither team had much success finding the range from any point on the floor.
Alter missed its first 19 shots before Moody hit a runner with 1:31 left in the half.
That cut the Knights deficit to 13-6, which is where it stayed when the horn sounded.
Alter was 1-for-21 from the floor in the first half, but Bellevue made only 4 of 19 of its shots, including 2 of the last 17 after Turner’s quick start.
She had seven to lead all scorers in the first half.
The Knights found some offense in the third quarter as Moody ignited a 6-0 run midway through the stanza, but Bellevue maintained a seven-point lead heading to the fourth.
Elie Frietag made a 3 from the left corner in the first minute of the fourth to push the Bellevue lead back to 10.
Rees made it 11 with an old-fashioned three-point play with 4:32 left, and the Lady Red were able to shorten the game from there before Alter had to start fouling to get the ball back.
Bellevue made nine of 12 free throws after that to keep the Knights from getting closer than seven.
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