5A West GBB #5 Walker-Hackensack-Akeley at #4 Pine River-Backus

Recap

As expected, the rubber match between the WHA Wolves and PRB Tigers went down to the wire in a tremendously exciting game to see who would move on in the 5A West Subsection Tournament.

Both teams started off shooting very well, at times trading jabs with shots from behind the arc. The back-and-forth first half featured six ties and five lead changes. PRB led by as many as 7 at 33-26, and thanks to a three pointer at the buzzer by Claire Dahl, the Tigers took a 36-31 lead into the halftime locker room.

As well as both teams shot in the first half, they were both cold to start the second. It was scoreless almost three minutes in before the Wolves got the first bucket to fall. PRB once again built the lead to seven at 43-36, then the tables turned. W-H-A used a 14-4 run as the Tigers went cold and took a 50-47 lead with about 4 1/2 minutes to go. The Wolves started to stall, so possessions were very limited down the stretch. The Wolves missed a one-and-one opportunity to keep it 50-47 with about 1:30 to play. The final six points of the game were courtesy of PRB junior Hannah Barchus, who knocked down a three to tie the game with 1:06 left, and the go-ahead three to win it with about 18 seconds on the clock. They were the only three-pointers made by PRB in the second half after knocking down eight in the first half.

The Tigers go to 13-12 and will play, presumable, 5A West top seed Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa in Wadena Saturday night. Pregame is set for 5:40pm on KLKS Talk 100.1.

Walker-Hackensack-Akeley ends their season at 13-11.

Team Stats: Turnovers – PRB 10, WHA 13; Rebounds (off.) – WHA 29 (8), PRB 24 (7); Free Throws – WHA 6/9, PRB 5/7
W-H-A Leaders: Kali Oelschlager 12 pts, Aubrey Morrison 11 pts, 3 assts; Mackenzie Raddatz 11 pts, Avery Morrison 8 pts, 5 assts
PRB Leaders: Ramsey Tulenchik 20 pts, 5 assts, 3 stls, 2 blks; Hannah Barchus 14 pts, Claire Dahl 12 pts

Postgame Interview with PRB Coach Tucker Sheley: