WATERTOWN — It took a total team effort to offset an outstanding individual performance on Friday.

West Central held off Ashlyn Koupal and Wagner for a 46-38 Class A girls basketball win at the Watertown Civic Arena. Koupal, a future Nebraska Cornhusker, scored 35 of Wagner’s 38 points and added 17 rebounds. 

“She’s an amazing player,” West Central sophomore Kacey Jaton said. “We came into it knowing that she was going to be obviously dominant in the paint and on the perimeter we knew she was a fast break shooter as well.”

Koupal’s 35-point performance was two away from the Class A girls basketball tournament record for most points in consolation play, set by Summit’s Lori Wohlleber (37) in 1984. Koupal also moved into No. 6 on South Dakota’s all-time girls basketball scoring list with 2,575 career points. 

Koupal, who earlier in the day was named the South Dakota Gatorade player of the year, finished 11-of-26 from the field, 3-of-8 at the 3-point line and 10-of-11 at the free-throw line. 

“She’s an unbelievable player,” West Central coach Joe Caffrey said. “Our defense was keyed up for it. But she still got them and we were trying to keep track of her. She had an unbelievable performance against us today.”

Jaton led West Central (19-5) with 16 points, five boards and three 3-pointers. Mackenzie Skonhovd added 11 points, while Ellie Knight had 10 points, eight rebounds and five steals. 

The Trojans, who led from start to finish, built a 19-8 first-quarter lead and led 35-20 at halftime. Koupal scored 17 of Wagner’s 20 first-half points, with a Braxton Nedved 3-pointer accounting for the only other points. 

West Central’s lead ballooned to 16 points with six minutes left in the third quarter. Koupal, who scored all of Wagner’s 18 second-half points, got the Red Raiders within 40-32 late in the third quarter. 

But Skonhovd’s 3-pointer pushed West Central’s lead to 43-32 with 1:50 left in the third quarter. 

“That’s one of those big baskets in the second half that we made that just kept them from closing the gap a little bit more and put the pressure on them a little bit,” Caffrey said. 

Koupal converted a pair of 3-point plays in the fourth quarter, getting the Red Raiders within 45-38 with 3:30 left. 

But neither team scored another field goal in the defensive slugfest. Wagner outrebounded West Central, 37-30. Koupal collected 17 of Wagner’s 37 boards. The Trojans tallied 21 steals and forced Wagner into 23 turnovers. 

“We kept our composure in the second half when the shots weren’t falling like they were the first half and still made the right defensive plays when we needed to,” Caffrey said.

Wagner (19-4) will play Lakota Tech at 11 a.m., CT on Saturday in the seventh-place game. 

West Central will play Sioux Valley at 12:45 p.m., CT on Saturday for the consolation championship. 

“Going 2-1 at the state tournament is huge for us,” Jaton said. “None of us had been here before. So it would be amazing.”