Pipestone 31-34 = 65
Windom 30-34 = 64
Turnovers, particularly in the closing seconds, proved costly as the Windom girls basketball team was stunned 65-64 by Pipestone in the Section 3AA playoffs Friday at Windom.
The Eagles fought off an early 12-point deficit, closing the deficit to one point by halftime. Windom then took the lead late in the second half and took its biggest lead of the game at 58-53 after a three-pointer from Anja Nielsen and a baskets from Haidyn Sammons.
Pipestone answered with a three-pointer, but a pair of free throws from Hannah Dauer pushed the lead to 60-56 with 1:48 to go.
An Arrow three-pointer cut the Eagle lead to 60-59, and a pair of Arrow free throws gave Pipestone a 61-60 lead with 1:10 to go, but two free throws from Haidyn Sammons regained the lead with 51 seconds left and two more pushed the lead to 64-61 with 33 seconds left.
The Eagles then stole the inbounds pass but missed a lay-up, leaving the door open for the Arrows. The Eagles missed a free throw with 23 seconds left. With 10 seconds left, Pipestone got an offensive rebound and was fouled, making both free throws to cut the Eagle lead to 64-63.
Disaster then struck on the inbound pass, as Pipestone’s Jadyn Kor stole the ball and was fouled making the go-ahead lay-up with 7.9 seconds left. Kor missed the free throw with the Eagles rebounding the ball, but the outlet pass was thrown away. The Eagles were then unable to foul the Arrows until 0.3 seconds remained on the clock, sealing the win for the Arrows.
Haidyn Sammons led the Eagles with 23 points. Hadley Sammons and Adison Hogan each scored 13 in the loss.
