Raiders edge Cougars, earn trip to title game

The Fulda Raiders girls basketball team is headed to the state championship game.

Laura Kramer had 17 points and 18 rebounds -- including the clinching offensive board and putback with 11 seconds to go in regulation -- as the Raiders turned back Ada-Borup at the finish, earning a 54-50 victory in the Class A state semifinals Friday at the Target Center.

Fulda (25-4) can capture its first state championship in school history with a victory in the title game today at the Target Center against Granada-Huntley-East Chain. The Mustangs upset the state's No. 2-ranked team, Barnum, in the other semifinal, 50-46.

"It hasn't really sunk in yet," forward Kaitlyn Kramer said after the game. "We're so hyped up right now."

Fulda nearly saw its championship hopes slide away in the final minutes as Ada-Borup rallied from down 12 with 13:27 left in regulation to close within 51-50 with 20 seconds left after a basket by Ashley Filipi. Sam Raddle, who had hit 1-of-2 foul shots with 33.8 seconds left, went back for another pair of free throws with 12.8 seconds remaining.

After making the first shot Raddle then missed the second. Thankfully for the Raiders, Laura Kramer was there to grab the offensive rebound and follow up with a layup to clinch the game.

"We had the girl we wanted on the free-throw line," Fulda head coach Gregg Slaathaug said. "We wanted Sam or Kaitlyn there. What a great rebound and she went up nice, held the ball high, went right back up. It felt good."

The basked capped a day in which the Raiders had struggled from the foul line, going 15-for-26 (58 percent). Ada-Borup had stayed in the game, in part, because it hit 13-of-18 attempts (72 percent).

"We struggled on the free throw line all year, for some reason," Slaathaug said. "We've got girls that can sit out there and pound 3-pointers all day, but then we get to the free-throw line, and I don't know what the struggle is."

While Fulda struggled at the line, the Cougars were given a break during their comeback. With 5:17 left in the game, Corin Gunderson went to the line and converted a pair of free throws to make the score 45-37. However, Gunderson was apparently not the player who was supposed to go to the line -- Katy Ness was -- and the apparent mistake sent coach David Smart in search of an answer to the mix-up.

"We went to the scorers' table and said (that), and they let her shoot anyway," he said. "I asked them because I didn't think it was her."

Ness, oddly enough, would go to the line with 3:24 left and her team down 48-41. She missed both shots.

Fulda appeared ready to blow the game open in the middle stages of the first half. After Gunderson tied the game at 6-all for the Cougars, the Raiders turned up the defense and went on a 17-4 push over a span of 8 minutes, 32 seconds to grab a 23-10 lead.

Fulda forced 11 turnovers in the first half to help take the lead, using their size advantage inside to help get past Ada-Borup's interior defense.

But smaller teams had been able to give the Raiders plenty of problems during the year, and the quickness of the Cougars helped turn the game around, leading to a 9-2 run to get within 50-48.

"We knew when we came up here that the teams we were going to play were going to have runs," Laura Kramer said. "We just didn't let it keep us down."

Both teams finished the game with the same number of turnovers (22), but A-B head coach David Smart was surprised his team had so many against Fulda's defense.

"We didn't expect to have quite as many turnovers as we did, but the game got a little more physical than we were expecting," he said. "The girls hung in there, we hit some big shots, kept it close at the end."

Nicole Smart had a team-best 17 points to lead the Cougars, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer at the end of the first half, capping a 10-2 run to put Ada-Borup within 29-22 at the break.

"She's probably our best shooter out there," coach Smart said of Nicole. "It was good to get her going."

Kaitlyn Kramer was the only other player in double figures for the Raiders, scoring 15 points. Kelli Smart hit for 10 points to help the Cougars, also registering as the second double-figure scorer on the day for Ada-Borup.

Fulda 29 25 -- 54

Ada-Borup 22 28 -- 50

FULDA (3FG-2FG-FT-TP): Sam Raddle 0-0-4-4, K.Kramer 0-5-5-15, N.Gunderman 0-2-1-5, Speckmeier 0-1-0-2, L.Kramer 0-8-1-17, M.Gunderman 0-1-0-2, S.Raddle 1-1-4-9. Totals: 1-18-16-54.

A-B (3FG-2FG-FT-TP): N.Smart 3-4-0-17, K.Smart 2-1-2-10, Filipi 0-1-5-7, Kolness 0-2-2-6, Ness 0-1-0-2, C.Gunderson 0-2-4-8. Totals: 5-11-13-50.