Not your ordinary freshman

WORTHINGTON -- It was a shot worthy of inclusion in any "One Shining Moment" montage.

And the shooter, Adrian freshman Sam Lynn, wasn't even the main option on the play.

It didn't matter.

Lynn capped a dramatic finish to regulation by banking in a half-court shot to draw Adrian even with Southwest Star Concept, then 10 of her game-high 28 points in overtime -- all from the free-throw line -- as the fifth-seeded Dragons pulled out a gutty 96-86 victory over the fourth-seeded Quasars, advancing to the semifinals of the Section 3A South tournament Saturday in Worthington.

The victory also was the 300th of Adrian head coach Randy Strand's career. But it's pretty safe to say that this game will be remembered more for his point guard's last-second shot than it will be for his career milestone.

Brooke DeWall, who had 18 points and a team-high 12 rebounds, had two straight trips to the foul line in the final 21 seconds where she connected on 1-of-2. The last trip was followed by a rebound and a quick timeout by Adrian (13-12), leaving 3.6 seconds for the final play.

The play is the ladder series, and it was something Strand had the team work on Friday during practice. As Strand explained the play: "We want to get the ball with one pass to half-court. Had we had a couple more seconds, the shot probably would've come from Erica down in the corner instead of Sam out on top."

Erica Thier had 17 points in the game, including four of her five 3-pointers in the second half. She would've been the option for Lynn to go to had it not been for SSC's defense, and the lack of time on the clock (3.6 seconds when the play started).

"I was supposed to try and get it to Erica, she was on fire the whole game," Lynn said. "She wasn't open, so I (took it)."

Her shot was taken just slightly left of straight on with the hoop, giving her nearly a perfect angle. She took three dribbles, fired the shot, then watched as the ball hit the window, then found its way into the basket, setting off a wild celebration.

The shot was a major blow for SSC (16-7), which had rallied from down nine with 10:38 left, and with Adri Rasche on the bench with five fouls. Rasche was held to four points in the game, mostly due to her time on the bench.

"We were deflated a lot by that 3," SSC head coach Les Knutson said. "We were down by nine, came back, got a little lead, then extended the lead with those free throws and it looked like we were going to win."

Then, in the overtime, Adrian was held to one field-goal attempt -- a missed 3-pointer -- but they made up for it by going 17-for-20 from the foul line. On the day, the Dragons were 34-for-44 on free throws, compared to 9-for-18 for the Quasars.

"It was just a well-played basketball game by both teams that knocked down shots," Strand said afterward. "We got to the free-throw line and we started making them."

The pace of the game added to the drama. SSC and Adrian thrived when the tempo was up, pushing each other to see just who was better at a more revved-up speed.

This was a stark contrast to the first game the two teams played this year, when Adrian and SSC combined for 81 points.

"The last time we played, it was a slow game," Knutson said. "Both teams are pretty good defensively. Today, both offenses countered the defenses."

Linnea Henkels and Shannon Hussong both found their stroke in the quicker pace, combining to hit six 3-pointers (five by Hussong) and 40 points (a career-high 19 from Hussong, 21 from Henkels).

Still, the outcome of the game had Knutson shaking his head in bewilderment.

"I would've never guessed that we'd get 86 points and lose," he said.

Adrian plays MCC in Tuesday's first semifinal at 6 p.m. in Luverne.

Adrian 38 41 17 -- 96

SSC 38 41 7 -- 86

Adrian (3FG-2FG-FT-TP): Er.Thier 5-1-0-17, Em.Thier 0-4-0-8, Tjepkes 0-1-3-5, S.Lynn 1-5-15-28, Reisdorfer 0-0-2-2, Kay.Bullerman 0-1-0-2, B.Bullerman 0-5-6-16, Ka.Wiertsema 0-5-8-18. Totals: 6-22-34-96.

SSC (3FG-2FG-FT-TP): Hussong 5-2-0-19, Henkels 1-7-4-21, DeWall 0-8-2-18, W.Place 0-4-1-9, Pelzel 2-0-0-6, S.Place 1-2-2-9, Rasche 0-2-0-4. Totals: 9-25-9-86.

No. 1 MCC 66,

No. 8 SV-RL-B 37

Murray County Central left no doubt as to why they earned the top seed in Section 3A South.

The Rebels scored the first 12 points of the game and held Sioux Valley-Round Lake-Brewster to four field goals and nine points in the first half, pulling away for an easy victory.

"We wanted to set the tempo right from the beginning," MCC head coach Cory Strasser said. "We were able to focus on what we wanted to do."

What MCC (21-4) wanted to do early was take away the backdoor passing lanes of the Raiders, something SV-RL-B (11-13) had plenty of success with in its victory over ML-B-O on Thursday. Forced mostly to pass along the perimeter, the Raiders were left unsure of what they wanted to do, leading to a multitude of turnovers (12) in the first 18 minutes.

On the other end, MCC was able to get plenty of balance to its offense as nine players scored in the first half, 12 in the entire game. The Rebels were led by Emily Bose, who poured in 22 points and picked up eight rebounds to help pick up the slack for Rachel Christiansen, who was held to five points (but did have 11 rebounds).

"Emily played really well by being in the right position," Strasser said. "She's come a long way, and she gives us another boost off the bench."

Janeane Robinson was the only other player for MCC in double figures, picking up 11 points. Emily Counter led the team with seven assists and four steals while scoring four points.

Amanda Evans led the way with 13 points in what was her final game for the Raiders.

SV-RL-B 9 28 -- 37

MCC 29 37 -- 66

SV-RL-B (3FG-2FG-FT-PT): Correll 0-0-2-2, Eichenberger 1-0-2-5, Baumgarn 0-2-0-4, Evans 2-2-3-15, Wilson 0-0-2-2, S.Schmitz 0-2-0-4, Cross 0-1-0-2, E.Schmitz 0-1-0-2, Weinandt 0-1-0-2, Riley 0-0-1-1. Totals: 3-9-10-37.

MCC (3FG-2FG-FT-TP): Anderson 0-2-1-5, Beers 0-1-1-3, Starken 0-1-1-3, Petersen 0-0-2-2, Ellefson 0-2-0-4, Counter 1-1-0-5, Robinson 1-3-2-11, Felber 0-0-1-1, Manderscheid 0-0-1-1, Christiansen 0-2-1-5, Gengler 0-1-2-4, Bose 0-11-0-22. Totals: 2-24-12-66.