The second Class A semifinal game on this Friday afternoon featured at least one team that I was familiar with - third-seeded Maranatha Christian Academy going up against Mountain Iron Buhl. The Mustangs made it to the Class A title game last year and were definitely hoping to take it one step further this time around. The Rangers have been to state many times before and they know this setting extremely well.
Things got off on a bit of a scary note for Mountain Iron-Buhl from the get-go when sophomore post Mary Burke suffered what appeared to be a bloody nose at the 17:46 mark that forced her to sit a spell. Although she was able to return a short time later, the Mustangs had already forged a 6-0 lead by the 15:10 mark on the strength of scores in the paint by junior forward Sami Payne and one by freshman reserve forward Sophia Montgomery off of an inbounds pass. The Rangers would gradually chip away at the deficit from the charity stripe and then a "3" from the right corner by junior guard Chelsea Mason at the 13:08 mark put Mountain Iron-Buhl out in front 7-6. Another trey - this one by freshman reserve guard Macy Savela from the left corner at the 11:54 mark gave the Rangers a 10-8 advantage but an offensive rebound and putback by junior forward Sami Payne at the 11:29 mark forged a 10-10 tie. Mountain Iron-Buhl would then go on a 7-2 run to get a 17-12 lead and many of the Mustang faithful in attendance were wondering when the superstar sister duo of senior guard Alaina Jarnot and sophomore forward Jacklyn Jarnot were going to show up to save their team. Jacklyn Jarnot would get two freebies to fall at the 11:02 mark and a "3" by older sister Alaina Jarnot trimmed the Ranger lead down to 20-17 and the Mustangs would eventually close the gap to a scant point at 22-21 with 6:30 left. Maranatha Christian would finally grab a one-point lead of its own with 3:45 left at 25-24 on two free throws by sophomore guard Kylie Post but the usually high-octane Mustang offense seemed to be sputtering and Mountain Iron-Buhl would seize an opportunity to grab a small lead down the stretch. Savela would drain another "3" - this one from the right top area with 1:51 left and another trey by Mason - this one from the top of the key that got a very friendly bounce on the rim - allowed the Rangers to take a 34-30 advantage into the locker room at the half. Although certainly a close game at this point, Maranatha Christian Academy Head Coach Chris Buerman had to be concerned about the hot-shooting Savela-Mason duo that was becoming a thorn in the side to his Mustang team.
Mountain Iron-Buhl put the Mustangs further in the hole as scores in the paint by willowy senior forward Tatum Primeau and Burke had the Rangers up 38-32 by the 16:59 mark and a jumper from the left wing area by Mason at the 16:32 mark made it a 40-32 game before the Mustangs were able to jump-start their stagnant offense. Two Payne free throws at the 15:10 mark along with one Alaina Jarnot free throw at the 14:46 mark trimmed the deficit to three at 42-39 and an offensive rebound and putback by Jacklyn Jarnot that drew a foul and sent the lanky sophomore to the line for the obligatory freebie knotted the score at 42-all. But another Ranger push fueled by 2 Burke free throws and an offensive rebound and putback by freshman reserve guard Allie Negen had Mountain Iron-Buhl up 52-44 with 8:13 left and now the Mustangs needed some major magic before the sands of time ran out on this fun and exciting team. Complicating the situation even more for Maranatha Christian Academy was that both Post and Jacklyn Jarnot had both been whistled for their third foul by this point and both had to be careful the rest of the way. The Mustangs tried desperately to try and turn the tide but when Mason was able to connect on a drive and finish with 4:04 left for a 56-49 Mountain Iron-Buhl advantage, Maranatha Christian Academy definitely appeared doomed.
Somehow, just when things looked the most bleak for Buerman's squad, this never-say-die Mustang team rallied from the brink of extinction. A score in the paint by Post with 3:38 left cut the Ranger lead down to five at 56-51 and then Mountain Iron-Buhl may have made its first major mistake of the game. Instead of attacking with a little over two minutes left, they decided to carefully nurse the five-point advantage by working the clock in a vain attempt to run this one out. Maranatha Christian Academy would have none of it and would get the ball back with plenty of time left. Jacklyn Jarnot slithered into the paint for one score with 1:44 left that drew a foul and allowed her to sink the obligatory freebie and, after a Ranger turnover, Alaina Jarnot knocked down a jumper from the top of the key that sliced Mountain Iron-Buhl's lead down to a scant two points at 58-56 with 1:40 left. A somewhat shaken Mountain Iron-Buhl team tried to bring the ball upcourt but a thieving Mustang team forced a turnover and Post was able to connect on a lay-up with 1:29 left that suddenly and shockingly tied the game at 58 a piece. The Rangers got the ball back and junior guard Mya Buffetta was fouled with 1:27 left and her two free throws put Mountain Iron-Buhl up 60-58. Two more Buffetta freebies with :57.3 left had the Rangers up 62-59. But Maranatha Christian Academy brought the ball upcourt on their next possession and Alaina Jarnot got free behind the arc and calmly drilled an ice water in my veins trey with :54 left that again tied the game at 62 a piece. Both teams were unable to take advantage of last possessions in regulation so off to overtime we went tied at 62.
A short jumper in the paint by Payne with 3:46 left in the extra period pushed the Mustangs back out in front 64-62 for the first time since the first half but that lead didn't last long as Negen buried a "3" from the top of the key with 3:27 left for a 65-64 Mountain Iron-Buhl lead. Free throws by senior reserve forward Cora Peterson and Mason extended the Ranger lead to 67-64 and put the pressure right back on Maranatha Christian Academy - which was then promptly answered by yet another dagger trey from Alaina Jarnot; this one from the left wing area with 1:44 left that tied the issue at 67-all. Buffetta would get sent to the line on Mountain Iron-Buhl's next possession where she sank both free throws for a 69-67 Ranger lead but Alaina Jarnot would come to the rescue again for her team when, with 1:07 left, she made a drive into the lane and got a finish off the glass that tied the score once again at 69-all. One the next Ranger possession, the daring Buffetta would make a move to get into the lane for a score where she drew a foul and her two free throws with 1:01 left had Mountain Iron-Buhl up 71-69. Guess who would come to the rescue for the Mustangs - yet again? That's right. Alaina Jarnot as she drained a "3" from the left wing with :49 left to put Maranatha Christian Academy up 72-71. The Rangers would promptly turn the ball over and give the Mustangs a chance to add a little breathing room to that one-point advantage and sophomore reserve guard Jayzryn Thompson was fouled and she got the back-end of the two shot foul situation to go down for a 73-71 advantage with :36.8 left. Ordinarily, that would have had Maranatha Christian sitting in a pretty decent spot but on Mountain Iron-Buhl's ensuing possession, the Mustangs committed a terrible mistake by fouling the Ranger's Negen behind the arc with just :08.1 left. The freshman went to the charity stripe with no fear and calmly dropped all free throw attempts that put Mountain Iron-Buhl up 74-73 and now the burden shifted squarely on the Mustangs to try and dig themselves out of this grave that they had dug for themselves. On Maranatha Christian Academy's ensuing possession, Post was able to get down low for a scoring attempt and was fouled in the process with :03.2 left. Perhaps sheer nerves got the best of Post on her first free throw attempt as it was way off the mark.
Post's second attempt at least drew rim but the miss all but seemed to seal the Mustang's fate. But what the Rangers could not have counted on was Jayzryn Thompson of Maranatha Christian Academy sneaking around the block and snaring an unlikely offensive rebound and getting a putback out of it before a shocked and stunned Williams Arena crowd that put the Mustangs up 75-74 with just under two seconds left. Mountain Iron-Buhl tried desperately to get a shot off in the waning seconds to no avail and Maranatha Christian Academy amazingly stole a 75-74 victory to advance to Saturday's championship finale.
A disappointed and emotionally drained Mountain Iron-Buhl Head Coach Jeff Buffetta said afterward that "it was an emotional game....a lot of energy....they (our team) did everything we could ask of them......in the end it came down to somebody making the last play and unfortunately that had the last second to make the last play." Buffetta did say (confirming some of my suspicions) that at that critical late stage of the second half when they were nursing that small lead that "at times we were protecting instead of attacking." Maranatha Christian Academy's Buerman spoke about some of the adjustments he made at the beginning of the second half when things weren't going the Mustangs way. He admitted that Mountain Iron-Buhl did a good job of penetrating the lane "so we went to a 'five out' offense.....we relied on our post moving out to the perimeter and taking that extra defender away and we got some of the one-on-one matchups we were looking for." Alaina Jarnot admitted that she felt a "little frustrated" with how things were going with her shooting performance in the first half but said that she started feeling a lot better once her shots started falling when they really counted. Not surprisingly, it was Alaina Jarnot's 21 points that led the way for the Mustangs on this afternoon while Post had 17 points and Jacklyn Jarnot chipped in with 13 points and Payne had 12 points. Jayzryn Thompson only contributed three points but the most important two of those came right at the end for the win. For Mountain Iron Buhl, Mason led the way with 17 points while Buffetta had 15 points and Negen had 12 points in the losing effort. One of the stats that stands out to me in this one was that Maranatha Christian Academy had a 40-20 advantage in points in the paint and obviously shot much better from both FG and three-point land in the second half as well.
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