Photo taken used with permission by Sara Stadem
The #4 seed Tri-Vally Mustangs got a come-from-behind win in the opening round of the Region 3A tournament at home on Tuesday, February 22nd. The McCook Central/Montrose Fighting Cougars led for a lot of the game, but the Mustangs got the win 55-52 to advance to the next round.
The Cougars started the game on an 8-0 run in the first minute and a half. The Mustangs responded with a 9-2 run and trailed 10-9 with 1:15 to play in the opening quarter. The Cougars got the final four points of the quarter and lead 14-9 at the break. McCook Central/Montrose led 25-17 late in the second quarter, but the Mustangs scored the final six points, including a buzzer-beater by Paige Jewett to cut the lead to 25-23 at halftime.
The run continued for Tri-Valley into the third quarter. They scored the first four points to lead 27-25 with 6:45 to play in the quarter. The Cougars, however, went on a 5-0 run in 35 seconds to regain the lead 30-27. The two teams battled back-and-forth the remainder of the quarter, and the Cougars led 37-35 going into the fourth quarter.
The fourth quarter was full of excitement. Lauren Grinde made a three pointer with 6:00 to go in the game to give Tri-Valley a 40-39 lead. For the next five minutes, the two teams traded baskets and the game went back and forth. Jewett made two free throws with :33 on the clock to give the Mustangs a 51-47 lead. The lead remained four points until a McCook Central/Montrose made a three point shot with :06 to make the score 53-52. Grinde made two free throws with :02 to go to seal the victory for Tri-Valley.
The Mustangs shot 38% (19-50) in the game, 22% (4-18) on three pointers, and 62% (13-21) from the free-throw line. McCook Central/Montrose finished the game shooting 39% (18-46) from the field, 29% (4-14) from three-point area, and 57% (12-21) from the free-throw line.
Grinde had a team-high 16 points and eight rebounds. Jewett finished with 15 points, three assists, and two rebounds. Ava Pearson added 10 points and six rebounds. Stephanie Buchmann and Hillary Hastings both had six points each. Buchmann also had five assists and three rebounds.
Tri-Valley will get to play West Central in a SoDak 16 Qualifying game on Thursday, February 24th at 6:30 p.m. at Harrisburg High School.
