HURON — Ethan and Castlewood combined for 24 made 3-pointers, but a two-point field goal was the difference on Thursday.

Leah Klock’s go-ahead basket with :06.6 seconds left broke a tie and was enough to lift Ethan to a 55-53 overtime thriller over Castlewood at the Huron Arena. Klock’s only field goal came after she kept Ethan’s possession alive with an offensive rebound and she was left all alone when Madeline Bartscher was triple teamed. 

“It was a great read,” Ethan coach Tom Young said. “She just has a knack for finding that open spot and she made the big play to get us here against Corsica-Stickney (in the SoDak 16).”

Klock was fouled on the shot, but her missed free throw kept the score at 55-53. Castlewood called a timeout with two seconds left and Mackenzie Everson’s shot as time expired was off the mark, sending Ethan into the semifinals.  

“I am just proud of our team,” Klock said. “We just worked together to get there and worked hard.” 

Ethan's Leah Klock (5) goes up for a basket to score the game winning basket in front of Castlewood's Madeline Horn (5) during a game in the first round of the Class B state tournament at the Huron Arena. (Matt Gade / For 605 Sports)

Ethan’s Madeline Bartscher logged 19 points and hit 5 of 9 3-pointers. Marissa Storm (five 3-pointers) and Ava Lingemann (four 3-pointers) scored 15 points apiece. 

Castlewood’s Madeline Horn tossed in 22 points and nailed three 3-pointers. Mackenzie Everson scored 11 points. 

The teams both sat in 2-3 zones and they fired away from long range. The Rustlers nailed 14 of 33 3-point attempts, while the Warriors drilled 10 of 24 from long range. 

“They are a little bit of a carbon copy of us,” Young said. “They are a little bit bigger inside and scored more inside but we knew they had shooters and I am sure they knew we had shooters. It’s what we have to rely on and ironically it was a basket by our reserve post that put it away.”

In the first half, Ethan made 9 of 19 3-pointers to spur a 35-25 halftime lead. In the third quarter, the Rustlers scored all nine of their points from the 3-point line and led 44-32. 

Ethan’s lead ballooned to 50-32 on a Bartscher 3-pointer with 7:35 left. That’s when Castlewood surged back with a 16-0 spurt and trailed 50-48 with two minutes left. 

“They are one of the very, very best teams we have played all year long and they showed it,” Young said. “They’ve got good players. I don’t even know some of those girls that hit shots. They weren't on my scouting report, but they just kept on hitting them.” 

Castlewood’s Presley Knecht hit a 3-pointer for a 51-50 advantage with 48 seconds left. Lingemann split a pair of free throws to even it up at 51-51 with seven seconds to go and Ethan failed to get a shot off as time expired to end regulation. 

“When you lose the momentum like we did and you go into overtime — and we had a chance to win that and you lose that — it’s really tough to come out and play overtime,” Young said. “I have been there before and we did and we escaped and we get to play semifinal night.”

Ethan will play Viborg-Hurley in the championship semifinals. Castlewood will play Howard in the consolation semifinals.