Photo by Samantha Davis. Minneota senior Kiersyn Hulzebos goes up for a fast break layup after she steals the ball in the first half against MACCRAY Tuesday night in the Section 3A quarterfinals at Montevideo High School. Hulzebos finished with 21 points in the Vikings' 63-62 loss. 

MONTEVIDEO — In a game that saw several ties and lead changes, the No. 3 Minneota girls basketball team erased an early double-digit deficit and was on the verge of completing an upset, but fell just short 63-62 in the final seconds to No. 2 MACCRAY in the Section 3A quarterfinals Tuesday night.

“We played our butts off. We hustled, we scrapped, we were diving for every loose ball, didn’t take any possessions off on defense,” Minneota head coach Alan Panka said. “We did what we needed to do, and just came up short.”

In the game’s final two minutes with the Vikings holding a 58-55 edge, MACCRAY hit a jumpshot to bring the score within a point, and forced an inbound turnover to keep the ball in its possession.

Brielle Janssen hit a crucial 3-pointer to put the Wolverines’ up 60-58 with the extra possession, to which Kiersyn Hulzebos was fouled and made a free throw to bring Minneota back within a point with 30 seconds to go.

Janssen was put back at the charity stripe on two more occasions, bringing the score to 63-59 with eight seconds left in MACCRAY’s favor.

On Minneota’s final run of the night, Hulzebos dribbled the ball up to the right wing, and nailed the 3-pointer with 1.8 seconds left, 63-62.

The Wolverines threw the ball to a running Janssen up the sideline, who was able to take a few dribbles away for the final second, ending the game.

“We’ve played enough good teams this year and had enough games where every possession matters … We have been in situations like this before,” Panka said. “That’s why you play a hard schedule and play good teams, to be ready for this time of year … It definitely made the game a lot better.”

The Vikings were down by 11 points at one point in the first half and 7 at the half, but were able to come back with an inclusive, patient offense and pressured MACCRAY to the end.

Jaylyn Coequyt and Hulzebos each finished with 21 points, with Coequyt added 11 rebounds while Hulzebos contributed four assists and six steals.

The Vikings shot 41% from the field to MACCRAY’s 36%, but the Wolverines couldn’t be stopped at the perimeter. They made 14 of 16 3-pointers, while the Vikings went 6 of 13.

Minneota came out hot in the second half offensively and defensively, and brought its 7-point deficit within a point in the half’s first two minutes.

Eden Meagher got a steal and fed the basketball up to a sprinting Hulzebos for and-1 with the free throw to give the Vikings the lead, 39-37.

The next few minutes were touch and go between the two. Coequyt grabbed an offensive rebound for the putback, and hit 1 of 2 free throws on the next possession to keep the slight 46-43 in Minneota’s favor.

The Vikings also finished with 32 rebounds to MACCRAY’s 22.

Minneota had to try to find an answer to slow down MACCRAY’s Janssen, a 6-foot-1 guard. She served as the Wolverines’ primary offensive playmaker, and finished with 36 points and 13 rebounds.

“All you can do is try to slow her [Janssen] down, because you’re not going to stop her,” Panka said. “We tried to do the best we could. We threw a bunch of different defenses at them just to see what would work, and just try to diffuse them a little bit.”

The two teams traded baskets with one another to begin the game, showcasing early the competitive atmosphere. The Vikings found themselves down 30-19, but erased the deficit to as little as 4 points as the first half was coming to a close.

A few minutes into the first half, the Wolverines started on a run, sparked by drilling in three consecutive 3-pointers to build a 26-17 lead.

Both teams were playing in a zone defense, to which Minneota commonly tried to pass around the perimeter until Coequyt was found open at the elbow.

With MACCRAY’s 30-19 edge, the Vikings stopped the run with an inbound play as Hulzebos passed to an open Sarah Gruenes for an easy layup.

In the midst of the Vikings’ first half rally back, Coequyt nailed a deep 2 just inside the wing, followed with a Meagher layup with two minutes to go and brought them to a 32-26 deficit.

Hulzebos got back-to-back steals, one of which she was able to go all the way in for the fast break layup to bring the game within 4 points.

At the half time buzzer, MACCRAY’s Samantha Hultgren drilled the 3-pointer to give the Wolverines’ a 37-30 lead.

Minneota ends its season 17-12 overall, and graduates seniors Nevaeh Hennen, Claire Rost, Hulzebos and Hadli Krog.

“It stinks when you end the season, no matter what or no matter where it is. With our four seniors, we are going to miss the heck out of them next year. It will be hard to replace,” Panka said. “They were great kids all season. Some of them accepted some roles they maybe didn’t always want to, but that’s what being part of the team is.”