FORT PIERRE — Castlewood scrapped and clawed its way back to Aberdeen.

The Warriors secured their second straight trip to the Class B boys basketball tournament on Tuesday, rallying past Harding County for a 53-51 SoDak 16 victory. 

Castlewood trailed throughout most of the game and didn’t get its first lead til early in the fourth quarter. The comeback was punctuated by two Lane Tvedt free throws with nine seconds left and he preserved the win with a steal to run out the clock. 

“I blacked out,” Tvedt said about the final play. “I don’t remember a lot of it. I just knew the buzzer was going to sound and we were going back (to state).”

Tvedt finished with 20 points, while 6-foot-8 sophomore center Bryon Laue logged 16 points and 17 boards. Joe Decker added eight points for the Warriors. 

Harding County’s Keegan Hett logged 22 points and Dawson Kautzman scored 12 points. Evan Meyer added seven points for the Ranchers, who had the Warriors on their heels most of the night. 

“Defensively, they are awfully tough,” Castlewood coach Paul Raasch said. “They play downhill and they are physical. Defensively we got the stops we needed in the fourth quarter to turn the tide.”

The Ranchers jumped out to a 9-1 lead in the opening minutes of the game and led at each quarter break. 

“We talked about it at halftime, we have to get them in a tighter situation,” Raasch said. “Where it’s not as easy to shoot and it’s not as easy to defend and credit our guys. Lane hit a big three and we went into Laue a couple of times.”

Trailing 43-38 entering the final quarter, Castlewood evened the score at 43-43 on a Tvedt 3-pointer and Laue’s 3-point play gave it a 51-49 lead with 2:15 left. Tvedt’s free throws broke a 51-51 tie with nine seconds left and his ensuing steal sealed the win.  

“That’s what you want your better players to do is be ready for that moment,” Raasch said. “He’s been around. This is his third year starting. So he’s been in a lot of big situations and I think he’s learned from them and he’s really grown up this year for us and matured and that’s a big part of it.”

Castlewood will play in the Class B boys basketball tournament on March 16-18 in Aberdeen.