RAPID CITY — The Arlington Cardinals are going somewhere they’ve never been before: a state championship game. 

Arlington outlasted perennial power Ethan, 44-41, in the Class B girls basketball semifinals on Friday at the Summit Arena. As a result, Arlington will play Centerville in the state championship on Saturday. 

It will be Arlington’s first-ever state championship game appearance. 

“We’ve worked so hard for this moment,” Arlington sophomore Jaelyn Huntimer said. “Everybody has grinded day in and day out, mornings after school, extra work. We’ve always got each other and we know that. It’s just awesome. The feeling is incredible.”

To reach the coveted title berth, the Cardinals had to hold off the Rustlers in a grind-it-out semifinal affair. The game featured five ties and eight lead changes. 

“It was a hard-fought game,” said Huntimer, who finished with 24 points and five 3-pointers. “Ethan is an amazing team. We knew that and we knew that we had to work really hard. At halftime, our biggest goal was to get more boards and play defense and we came out strong and we did that.” 

In the fourth quarter, the teams combined for just 17 points and just four field goals as defenses locked in. The teams played to a 34-34 tie entering the fourth quarter. Addalyn Steffensen’s 3-point field goal early in the fourth period was the lone field goal for five minutes.  

“We’ve been stressing defense all year long,” Arlington coach Tara King said. “So we knew it was going to be a battle till the end and defense, rebounding, making sure they take tough shots and offense is always an additional thing. But you always have to play defense.” 

After a timeout, Huntimer’s 3-pointer with 1:12 left broke the scoreless drought. The triple was drawn up in the timeout. 

“The play was drawn up for (Lillie) Eide to catch the ball and rip and attack and if she had a wide lane, she was going to take it,” Huntimer said. “If she didn’t, she was going to kick it to me and I just had to trust God in that moment and it went in.”

But Ethan’s Madeline Bartscher responded with a 3-pointer to get within 40-37 with 58 seconds left. The Cardinals, however, closed out the game at the free-throw line. Huntimer converted on 3-of-4 free throws in the final 26 seconds. 

“It was awesome,” Huntimer said. “Free throws are a big thing for me and I worked on those a lot.”

Jolyssa Steffensen had seven points and five rebounds for the Cardinals. Ellisyn Vincent had six points, while Addalyn Steffensen posted five points and 10 rebounds.

Bartscher had 15 points, while Ava Lingemann and Rachel Klock had eight points apiece. Klock added 12 boards. Marissa Storm scored seven points. 

The Cardinals nailed 9 of 25 3-pointers as Ethan sat in a 2-3 zone throughout the game. 

“There’s a lot of games we played really, really good defense and our offense was kind of missing,” King said. “So it’s kind of fun when the ball is going through the hoop for us. In addition to our tough defense.”

Arlington also showed its depth in the tight contest. Senior leader Harley Johnson missed a bulk of the game due to foul trouble, but Vincent filled the void.  

“Something we’ve said all year long is that we are positionless,” King said. “Everybody can do anything we need them to and Ellie came in and played big minutes for us and Harley was able to come back in and stay on the floor.”

The Rustlers, who were looking for their fourth championship berth since 2015, built a seven-point lead in the first quarter. But Arlington rallied back and the game stayed tight throughout. 

Arlington led 27-25 at halftime and it was evened up at 34-34 entering the slow-moving fourth quarter.  

“We were really trying to slow down the pace,” Huntimer said. “Just to really slow the clock. I think we had some really good defense. We really tried to focus on who we are guarding and really focus in and we did that.”

Ethan will play Lyman for third-place on Saturday.

The Cardinals, meanwhile, will play Centerville in their first-ever championship appearance.  

“We came here with goals,” King said. “Playing in the state championship helps us reach those goals and so we are excited.”