HURON — The Wolsey-Wessington Lady Warbirds used two second-half runs to first get back into the game and then take control of the game to defeat the Ethan Rustlers for third place Saturday 60-55 at Huron Arena at the girls’ Class B State Basketball Tournament.

The two teams initially went to their strengths, as Wolsey-Wessington went inside to Mallory Miller for baskets and Ethan relied on outside shooting.

The Lady Warbirds struggled with errant passes on multiple possessions, and the Rustlers got long range shots from Marissa Storm to push the lead out to 13-6 in favor of Ethan.

The Lady Warbirds used two long passes after rebounds to quickly get back into the game as Mya Boomsma was on the receiving end of both passes and converted layups.

A jumper by Ethan’s Ava Lingemann and a free throw for Leah Williams for the Lady Warbirds brought the first quarter to an end at 15-11.

Lingemann stepped back and launched a three to open the second quarter. W-W responded by hitting Miller in the paint for a short jumper.

Madeline Bartscher posted hard on Boomsma and was able to get the ball up and in. Lingemann picked up her second foul with just over six minutes remaining in the half.

Ethan began working the weave at the top of the key, pushing toward the hoop as the shot clock clicked down. This led to the clock working down for the Lady Warbirds to make any offensive moves. The Ethan trap press defense was also forcing W-W turnovers, but the Rustlers struggled to score when they had chances, so the opportunity to push the lead out to double-digits never materialized.

Taylor Horn of Wolsey-Wessington passes the ball as Marissa Storm of Ethan defends during the fhird-place game of the Class B State Tournament on Saturday at Huron Arena.

Miller began to lead the Lady Warbird break, and her ball handling at 6-feet, 4-inches was a matchup issue for Ethan. She was able to drive to the hoop multiple times and hit a cutting Taylor Horn for a layup as well.

A three from the top of the key by Leah Williams knotted the score at 28, but Storm banked in a three from well behind the line at the halftime buzzer to send Ethan to the break with a 31-28 margin.

The Lady Warbirds pounded the ball inside to open the second half, rattling off the first eight points of the half, drawing an Ethan timeout after Miller hit Boomsma on a release after a rebound for an easy layup.

Ella Pollreisz hit a runner in the lane for Ethan and the Rustler defense collapsed in the lane, but that opened Boomsma for a three. The teams headed to the media timeout with the Lady Warbirds up 39-33.

Ethan’s Marissa Storm drives against defensive pressure from Wolsey-Wessington’s Payton Kemnitz during the third-place game of the Class B State Tournament on Saturday at Huron Arena.

Ethan struggled to hit from the outside the way they were in the first half. Miller grabbed a rebound, drove the length of the court and hit a pull up jumper. Bartscher did hit a three to close the W-W lead to 42-36.

With 95 seconds left in the third, Williams picked up her fourth foul for the Lady Warbirds. Ethan was able to get a three from Annalise Buenning to tie the score at 43. Buenning then hit a put back shot as time expired to give Ethan the 45-43 lead heading into the final quarter.

Ethan began working a box-and-one on Miller, but the Lady Warbirds were able to get a bucket for Horn underneath and Boomsma on the backside to give W-W the lead.

The Lady Warbirds were able to find Horn to push the lead up to 51-47, but Storm hit her fifth long ball of the game to bring Ethan within 51-50 with three minutes remaining.

The teams exchanged buckets, and then Williams was fouled and hit a layup. She made the “and-one” to give the Lady Warbirds a 58-55 lead with two minutes remaining.

Williams sank a pair of free throws to give Wolsey-Wessington a 60-55 lead with 22 seconds left.

The Rustlers could not get a final shot to fall.

Wolsey-Wessington’s Leah Williams poses with the third-place trophy, along with Timber Haeder , left, and Tatum Luce.

The Lady Warbirds finish with a 23-3 record behind 22 points, 14 rebounds, and three assists from Mallory Miller. Leah Williams chipped in 15 points and Mya Boomsma added 13 points.

The Rustlers fall to 21-4. Ava Lingemann led Ethan with 18 points and five rebounds. Marissa Storm hit five threes as part of 17 points.

Ethan         15 31 45 55
Wolsey-Wessington     11 28 43 60

Ethan (21-4): Leah Klock 1 0-0 2, Marissa Storm 6 0-0 17, Ava Lingemann 6 4-6 18, Ella Pollreisz 2 0-0 4, Annalise Buenning 2 2-3 7, Madeline Bartscher 3 0-0 7. Totals: 20 6-9 55.

Wolsey-Wessington (23-3): Leah Williams 4 6-7 15, Lainey Uttecht 1 0-0 2, Taylor Horn 4 0-1 8, Mya Boomsma 6 0-0 13, Mallory Miller 10 2-5 22. Totals: 25 8-13 60.

FG: E - 20/53 38%; WW - 25/48 52%. 3-pt FG: E - 9/20 (Storm 5, Lingemann 2, Buenning, Bartscher); WW - 2/8 (Williams, Boomsma). Rebounds: E 23 (Lingemann, Pollreisz 5), WW 32 (Miller 14). Assists: E 8 (Bartscher 5), WW 9 (Miller, Boomsma 3). Turnovers: E 5, WW 10. Fouls: E 14 (Storm out), WW 12.