Rustlers escape Castlewood in Class B quarters on Leah Klock's overtime winner

Mar. 9—HURON — For 35 minutes and 50 seconds, Leah Klock hadn't been looked toward to score for Ethan, but with time dwindling in a tied overtime period in the state quarterfinals, the reserve junior forward came up with the two biggest plays of the game for the Rustlers.

First, Klock snagged an offensive rebound with 12.5 seconds remaining to give Ethan another chance at a game-winning basket. Then, just seconds later, Klock received a bounce pass in the lane from a driving Madeline Bartscher and cooly laid the ball in off the glass to give the Rustlers the lead with 6.6 seconds to play.

As a last-ditch 3-point attempt fell comfortably short, Klock's layup went down as the game-winner, giving second-seeded Ethan a 55-53 win over seventh-seeded Castlewood in the Class B state quarterfinals on Thursday night in the Huron Arena.

"I saw three Castlewood players, long arms right in front of my face and Leah was wide open," Bartscher said of the final play. "I knew she would make it. I had full confidence."

"It was a lot of good teamwork, good passing and communication," said a mostly-speechless Klock. "I'm just proud of our team. We worked so hard to get here."

But after leading for almost the entire second half and a good chunk of the first, the Rustlers had to battle to push the game to overtime.

Leading by 15 in the fourth quarter, Ethan (21-2) saw Castlewood storm back with a flurry of 3-pointers, the last of which was tossed in by Presley Knecht to give the Warriors a one-point edge with under a minute to play in regulation. Ethan's Ava Lingemann was fouled and split a pair of free throws in the waning seconds to send the game to an extra four minutes.

"When you lose the momentum like we did and you go into overtime, it's really tough to come out and play that overtime," said Ethan coach Tom Young. "But we did. We escaped and now we get to play a semifinal game."

At 7:45 p.m. Friday, Ethan will face off with No. 3 seed Viborg-Hurley, the defending state champions and winners of 26 consecutive games against Class B opponents.

Before Castlewood's late rally, it looked like the sharpshooting Rustlers were going to put the game away on the strength of their 3-point prowess.

Nine of Ethan's 12 made field goals in the first half came from 3-point range, building a 35-25 lead at the break. Castlewood closed to within three points and held the Rustlers scoreless for nearly six minutes to start the second half.

"We wanted to make a change that changed them," Castlewood coach Tyler Snaza said of the defense that limited Ethan to 20 points over the game's final 20 minutes. "We adjusted our zone, and that gave them some hesitancy. In the end, I make no baskets. ... The girls got on a roll and got us back in the game."

But when shot started to fall again, they were all from behind the arc.

Marissa Storm, Bartscher and Lingemann took turns knocking in 3s to end the third quarter, and Bartscher connected on two more early in the fourth. All told, all five of Ethan's made field goals in the second half (prior to OT) were from 3-point range, as the Rustlers' lead reached its peak at 47-32 early in the fourth quarter.

Storm and Bartscher each made five 3s, with Lingemann adding four. Bartscher led the Rustlers with 19 points, as Storm and Lingemann had 15 apiece. Lingemann also dished out seven assists, while Ella Pollreisz pulled down 10 rebounds.

Castlewood (16-8) didn't shy away from perimeter shooting either, going 10 of 24 from 3-point range, including five makes in the fourth quarter alone to get back in it. Madeline Horn scored a game-high 22 points to lead the Warriors, with Mackenzie Everson adding 11 and Knecht eight. Everson grabbed a team-high six rebounds, as Horn swiped four steals.

"We knew they had shooters and I'm sure they knew we had shooters, that's what we have to rely on," Young said.

In the end, it was a gutsy, emotional win for Ethan, who are now tasked with attempting to knock off a Viborg-Hurley team that hasn't lost a Class B game in more than 13 months and cruised through Howard, 64-46, in Friday night's other quarterfinal.

But asked if the Rustlers can recuperate quickly and challenge the reigning champs, Bartscher was steadfast in her reply.

"Yes, always."