HURON -- The Wall girls basketball team has never been this far in a Class B state tournament.
They don’t play like they’re inexperienced.
In fact, the Eagles played fearlessly to defeat top-seeded Wolsey-Wessington 76-72 in the state semifinals on Friday night at the Huron Arena.
“I’m speechless with how we came out and played, with how we shot the ball,” Wall coach John Hess said. “We talked before the game about playing loose. We have nothing to lose, they have all of the pressure on them. They’re the 1-seed. … That group of kids, (they) just fight, fight, fight.”
Wall led 38-36 after a blistering first half of scoring and the game was tied at 60-all with 6 minutes remaining with Rhea Tucker had a go-ahead basket for Wall (20-5) that put the Eagles ahead for good. Wolsey-Wessington had the game down to two points again moments later but Wall held off the Warbirds and Nora Dinger’s 3-pointer with 3:27 left gave Wall the breathing room -- 71-65 -- they needed to finish out the game, despite some late struggles at the free throw line.
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Despite 6-foot-4 Arizona State-bound star forward Mallory Miller guarding the paint on defense, Wall navigated that space deftly, outscoring the Warbirds 30-24 in the paint.
“We didn’t talk about it. We just wanted to attack,” Hess said. “We know we’re going to get shots blocked. With a kid like that, she’s going to block shots. … But we kept attacking.”
Dinger finished with 24 points on 9-for-16 shooting, including making five 3-pointers. Paige Kjerstad had 17 points and eight rebounds and Rhea Tucker had 16 points and 15 rebounds for Wall, which outrebounded the Warbirds, 38-30, including grabbing 17 offensive rebounds.
The Warbirds (22-3) had 21 points from Mya Boomsma, 20 points and 15 rebounds from Mallory Miller and 20 points from Leah Williams. Wolsey-Wessington shot nearly 44% from the field, made 8 of 13 3-pointers and were 14-for-16 at the free-throw line.
“We came in last year on the bottom and this year we’re in the championship,” Dinger said. “I don’t have any words.”
An appearance in the state title game is a first for the Eagles, who went 0-3 in their state tournament appearance a season ago as the No. 3 seed.
“This year, there were a lot of firsts for us and again here, we’ve got a lot of firsts (with this win),” Hess said.
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