Despite never trailing in the game, the Nevis girls basketball team needed a late 22-7 run to put away Bertha-Hewitt in a 64-48 victory to open the Section 5A playoffs on Friday, Feb. 21.
Nevis, the No. 8 seed in the West half of the section, used two jumpers and a 3-pointer by Addison Lindow, a 3-pointer by Mackenzie Mitchell, and two baskets by Mya Stacey to jump out to a 15-4 lead with 8:20 to play in the first half. Kia Heide scored off a rebound to make it 20-8 at the 5:10 mark before B-H went on an 8-0 run to cut the gap to 20-16. A layup by Lindow and two layups by Ava Isaacson gave the Tigers a 27-19 lead at the half.
Two baskets by Isaacson and layups by Heide and Makenna Frazier kept Nevis in front 38-30 with 10:32 to play before the No. 9-seeded Bears closed the margin to 41-36 with 8:20 remaining. A layup and a jumper by Frazier and a putback by Heide gave the Tigers a 47-36 lead with 7:22 left.
Nevis took control by responding with a 16-4 run to seal the win. Lindow’s two jumpers and Frazier’s pair of layups provided a 56-43 advantage before Lindow, Heide and Isaacson combined to make eight free throws in the final 5:01.
Isaacson (12 points, 12 rebounds) and Heide (11 points, 11 rebounds) recorded double-doubles while Lindow led the way with 21 points and four steals. Frazier also scored in double figures with 13 points while joining Isaacson and Lindow with four assists each. LIndow had six rebounds, Frazier had five rebounds, Kayli Bessler had four rebounds and three assists, and Stacey joined Frazier with three steals as the Tigers overcame 25 turnovers by forcing 30 turnovers.
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Hailey Hudalla’s 14 points, Mariah Line’s 13 points, and Carissa Winscher’s 11 points and 12 rebounds led the Bears, who ended the season with a 3-22 record.
In the other opening-round playoff game on Feb. 21, No. 7 Browerville/Eagle Valley eliminated No. 10 Laporte 69-15.
Nevis, which defeated B-H 59-32 on Jan. 16, improved to 8-18 by winning for the third straight game. The Tigers will now play No. 1 Walker-Hackensack-Akeley at Walker on Thursday night (Feb. 27) at 7 p.m. W-H-A defeated Nevis by scores of 82-41 on Jan. 7 and 72-27 on Feb. 4. The Wolves are rated No. 3 in the latest state Class A poll with a 25-2 record.
BERTHA-HEWITT: Hinzmann 2 0-1 4, Hudalla 5 3-4 14, Weishalla 1 0-3 3, Ma. Line 6 1-3 13, Mi. Line 1 0-0 3, Winscher 4 3-5 11. Totals: 19 for 60 (FG), 7 for 16 (FT).
NEVIS: Frazier 5 3-10 13, Heide 4 3-6 11, Isaacson 4 4-6 12, A. Lindow 7 6-7 21, Bessler 0 0-0 0, M. Lindow 0 0-0 0, Mac. Mitchell 1 0-0 3, Stacey 2 0-0 4, Gilmore 0 0-0 0. Totals: 23 for 58 (FG), 16 for 29 (FT).
Halftime: Nevis 27, B-H 19. Three-pointers: Hudalla 1, Weishalla 1, Mi. Line 1, A. Lindow 1, Mac. Mitchell 1. Team fouls: B-H 20, Nevis 18. Rebounds: Nevis 43 (Isaacson 12, Heide 11, A. Lindow 6, Frazier 5, Bessler 4, Stacey 3, M. Lindow 1, Gilmore 1). Assists: Nevis 18 (Frazier 4, Isaacson 4, A. Lindow 4, Bessler 3, Stacey 1, M. Lindow 1, Heide 1). Steals: Nevis 17 (A. Lindow 4, Stacey 3, Frazier 3, Bessler 2, Isaacson 2, Gilmore 1, Mac. Mitchell 1, Heide 1). Turnovers: B-H 29, Nevis 25.
