HURON — The John Hess-led Wall Eagles got the proverbial monkey off their backs Thursday. 

Wall outlasted Sully Buttes, 58-50, in a Class B girls basketball tournament opener at the Huron Arena. It is John Hess’ fifth state tournament as coach of the Eagles and his first time advancing to the semifinals. 

“It feels great,” Hess said. “Now I am in a new territory too for tomorrow and Saturday, but it’s awesome.”

Behind a 19-11 fourth quarter, Wall held off Sully Buttes and used an 11-0 run to fend off the Chargers down the stretch. Wall’s Paige Kjerstad powered the run with nine of her game-high 25 points in the final quarter. 

“That’s how we always go,” Kjerstad said. “We always get up and then we are down and in the fourth quarter, it’s our quarter and we always pull through.”

Kjerstad converted on 7 of 8 free throws, including 5 of 5 in the fourth quarter. Nora Dinger (17 points) added back-to-back fastbreak layups and Rhea Tucker (9 points/10 rebounds) made a field goal for a 56-41 lead with 3:11 left. 

“Nora with the ball in her hands as much as she does took care of it and she led our team,” Hess said. “She controlled everything for us and Rhea stepped up huge, too.”

But Sully Buttes responded with a 9-0 burst in the waning seconds to get within 56-50 with 14 ticks left. Dinger made two free throws to reach the final margin. 

“We really wanted that one,” Kjerstad said. “Because we were here last year and we got eighth place. So we just really wanted to win this first one.” 

Sully Buttes’ Lydia Hill recorded 18 points and 10 rebounds. Stevie Wittler added 13 points, five assists and four rebounds. Addison Chicoine logged 12 points. 

In the first half, the Eagles surged ahead for a 31-23 advantage at halftime. The Chargers stormed back and took a 39-37 lead entering the final quarter.

“Going into the locker room with that lead, it wasn’t safe,” Hess said. “You are at the state tournament. You have a team there that is not going to give up and they are here for a reason because they are a good team.”

Wall will play Wolsey-Wessington in the championship semifinals on Friday. Sully Buttes will play Jones County in the consolation semifinals on Friday.