Shiloh edges New Town

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BISMARCK — Shiloh Christian withstood a late New Town comeback to reach the semifinals of the Class B state girls basketball tournament.

Junior Paige Emmel made four free throws in the final minute and finished with a team-high 18 points as the Region 5 champion Skyhawks defeated the previously unbeaten Eagles 53-50 in the state quarterfinals Thursday afternoon at the Bismarck Civic Center.

“It says a lot about our team, when you’ve got a team like New Town who makes a run on us and actually gains the lead,” Shiloh head coach Jim Petrik said. “We knew we had fighters, we have competitors that could withstand that. Luckily, we made a few key plays down the stretch there.”

New Town (24-1) took its first lead of the game, 48-47, with 1:45 on a layup by sophomore guard Gabrielle Wilkinson. She finished with 10 points and 12 rebounds.

The teams traded the lead once more before Emmel knocked down a pair of free throws with 59.8 seconds left to give Shiloh a 51-50 lead. She made two more with 6.9 seconds left. Emmel had five rebounds and four steals.

New Town had an opportunity to tie and force overtime after a timeout, but were unorganized in trying to get a shot off. Wilkinson’s long 3-point attempt was blocked by Shiloh freshman Abby Muggerud as time expired.

“We just couldn’t quite get that one little stop we needed toward the end,” New Town head coach Orville Drosdal said.

The Skyhawks (20-6) established a 32-19 halftime lead after getting to the free-throw line early and often. They were 15 of 18 from the line in the first half.

“All those nights in the gym, all those camps you go to, they pay off,” said Kelly Schindler, Shiloh’s lone senior who had 12 points and 12 rebounds.

Shiloh faces the winner of Grafton and Lakota-Adams-Edmore at 5:30 p.m. in the semifinals.

The Eagles shot 5 of 27 from the field in the first half and was 9 of 9 from the line. They were 11 of 26 from the field in the second half as they chipped away at the deficit.

Freshman center Mia Wilkinson scored 14 of her game-high 20 points in the second half for the Eagles, who play the loser of Grafton and Lakota-Adams-Edmore at 1 p.m. today in the consolation semifinals.

NT 11 19 34 50

SC 16 32 39 53

NT: Mia Wilkinson 7 6-8 20, Gabrielle Wilkinson 3 4-5 10, Baeleigh Brady 0 6-6 6, Jaye Dawn Two Bears 2 0-0 5, Rayessa Baker 1 0-0 3, LaRiah Quick Bear 1 0-2 2. Totals: 16 16-21 50.

SC: Paige Emmel 4 8-8 18, Kelly Schindler 4 4-15 12, Beth Muggerud 4 2-6 10, Mikayla Forness 2 3-4 7, Brenna Jessen 1 2-2 4, Abby Muggerud 0 1-2 1, Regan Watson 0 1-2 1. SC 15 21-29 53.

3-pointers: NT 2 (Baker 1, Two Bears 1), SC 2 (Emmel 2). Total fouls: NT 21, SC 17. Rebounds: NT 36 (G. Wilkinson 12), SC 48 (Schindler 12). Assists: NT 10 (Baker 3), SC 8 (Schinlder 3). Steals: NT 13 (J. Two Bears 3), SC 14 (Emmel 4). Blocks: NT 6 (Brady 3), SC 2 (A. Muggerud, Emmel). Turnovers: NT 22, SC 20. Records: NT 24-1, SC 20-6.

Tags: high school basketball, class b state basketball, sports