At the buzzer: Schneider hits the buzzer-beater to lift Linton-HMB to the semifinals

BISMARCK — The final play didn’t work out exactly as it had been diagrammed. But it still worked out fine for Linton-HMB.

Kayln Schneider banked in a layup as time expired, giving the Lady Lions a 46-45 win against Minot Ryan here Thursday in the quarterfinals of the North Dakota Class B girls high school basketball tournament.

Ryan capped a big comeback when Gabbie Bohl grabbed an offensive rebound and put in a short jumper for a 45-44 advantage — Ryan’s first lead of the second half — with 8.9 seconds left.

After a timeout, McKenna Flyberg took an inbounds pass, drove the length of the court against the Ryan press and connected with Schneider on a bounce pass across the lane to Schneider in the low post on the left side. Schneider just beat the clock for the game-winner.

“We improvised a little,” Schneider said. “McKenna wasn’t supposed to take the ball to the middle. It was supposed to be some quick, easy passes (to get the ball upcourt). But it worked.

“I just put it up. My only thought was, ‘Do not miss this.’ I knew there wasn’t a lot of time left.”

Linton-HMB coach Pat Gerving said that, while passing the ball upcourt was the first option, “We told McKenna that if the pass wasn’t there, then force the ball upcourt. If they fouled, we would go to the free-throw line.”

Linton-HMB had built a 28-21 halftime lead after trailing 12-10 at the end of the first quarter. The Lady Lions expanded that lead to 41-33 after three. But then the offense struggled through the final eight minutes.

Linton-HMB was scoreless for the first 4:03 of the fourth quarter. After Kaidra Larson scored on a layup with 3:57 left, the Lady Lions were scoreless for another 3:37. Ryan went inside to rally — its final eight points were all by post players, five by Bohl and three by Hannah Stewart, who finished with a team-high 15 points.

It was a long quarter on the bench for Linton-HMB coach Pat Gerving.

“We were looking for options, wondering what to do to get a basket,” Gerving said of the final quarter. “I was getting worried. We haven’t had a lot of quarters when we’ve been held (to single digits). I don’t think we’ve been held to five points in a quarter before this year.

“They came out and put good defensive pressure on (in the second half). It got us. They forced us away from the basket. The offense was poor in the fourth quarter. But we take pride in our defense. It did the job.”

Schneider finished with 19 points and Flyberg 13 to pace Linton-HMB.

N.D. CLASS B GIRLS STATE BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

THURSDAY’S QUARTERFINALS

LINTON-HMB 46, MINOT RYAN 45

Ryan 12 21 33 45

Linton-HMB 10 28 41 46

Minot Ryan —Maddie Wald 3, Sydney Landsiedel 8, Anika Rovig 4, Laurin Leidholt 4, Quinn Harmon 2, Gabbie Bohl 9, Hannah Stewart 15. Totals 19 6-10 45.

Linton-HMB — Whitney Gerving 6, Amber Umber 1, Kaidra Larson 4, Robin Weber 3, McKenna Flyberg 13, Kayln Schneider 19. Totals 15 13-18 46.

3-pointers: MR 1 (Wald 1), L-HMB 3 (Flyberg 2, Gerving 1). Total fouls: MR 16, H-MB 12. Rebounds: MR 36 (Stewart 9), L-HMB 23 (Schneider 5). Assists: MR 9 (Rovig 4), L-HMB 8 (Flyberg 4). Steals: MR 4 (Harmon 2), L-HMB 10 (Schneider 3). Blocks: MR 7 (Stewart 5), L-HMB 1 (Schneider 1). Records: MR 24-2, L-HMB 19-6.

DeVillers is a sports writer for the Grand Forks Herald

Tags: class b, sports, basketball