By Tim Huether Bennett County and Little Wound played each other down to the wire last week in girls high school basketball, with the Lady Mustangs squeaking out a one point win, 51-50 in Martin.
The Lady Warriors had one last shot at victory as Amia Cottier heaved up a three point attempt at the buzzer but it was just off the back of the rim and the Little Wound Mustangs escaped with the win.
The Warriors played well enough to win but Little Wound had the better fourth quarter and that is what made the difference.
Bennett County shot just 1 of 10 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter while Little Wound went 3 for 4 from the line.
Warrior freshman Madi Waln had an outstanding night, keeping her team in the game by knocking down big shot after big shot on her way to 26 points, 19 in the second half. She made five three pointers.
The Lady Warriors would lead 11-7 in the first on a Jadyn Standing Soldier basket and six points from Waln.
Little Wound would tie the game at 11 and lead 12-11 at the end of the quarter.
After a free throw by Standing Soldier tied the game at 12 to start the second quarter, Little Wound scored five straight to go up 17-12 and the Lady Mustangs would go on to take a 26-17 lead at the half.
Bennett County came out scrapping in the second half and hustled their way to shutting down Little Wound while scoring 13 straight points, led by six points from Waln, going up 30-26.
The Lady Mustangs bounced back and tied the game at 33, then again at 35 at the end of the third, setting up an exciting final quarter.
After Little Wound went up 45-41, Raven Heathershaw buried a three pointer and Waln added a field goal on a fast break with a nice assist from Amia Cottier to go on top 46-45 with 2:34 to play.
The Warriors went cold from there and the Lady Mustangs scored six straight to take a 51-46 lead.
Bennett County would not give in with Waln hitting her fifth three pointer to close the gap to two points with 50 seconds to play.
Amia Cottier made it 51-50 in favor of Little Wound with 27 seconds to go, making one of two free throws.
After a missed shot by Little Wound with seconds to go, the Warriors hustled the ball up the floor and Cottier launched a desperation shot at the buzzer that was just a bit long and the Mustangs held on for the 51-50 win.
“This was a fun game, two teams evenly matched that played hard and never gave up,” said coach Duke Waln. “We have to make free throws, we missed 8 in a row to close the game. We hope to get the opportunity to play Little Wound again to see if we can make the necessary changes to come out on top. “
Player of the game was Sophia May.
Waln led all scorers with 26 points for the Warriors. Amia Cottier added 7, Jadyn Standing Soldier 6, Raven Heathershaw 5, Kaylee Byrne 3, Sophia May 2 and Ally Salomon 1.
The JV team remains unbeating, defeating Little Wound 56-17.