Alex Eisen/MDN Minot High junior Allie Nelson (right) picks up the ball before getting trapped by Jamestown's Grace Hegerle (left) in a West Region girls basketball game Friday evening in Minot.

Jamestown only led for a couple minutes, but the Blue Jays escaped Minot with a West Region win nonetheless.

Junior Kameron Selvig got to be the hero for the Blue Jays by sinking a 3-pointer in front of her bench with 20 seconds remaining. Jamestown made a stop at the other end to defeat the Minot High School girls basketball team, 48-46, Friday evening at the Magic City Campus.

“We just wanted to get a good shot because, obviously, we were down by one and had to at least get two,” Selvig said. “The play kind of fell apart and I found an opening. My teammates found me with an open shot. I just shot it and it happened to go in.”

The Majettes (4-14, 4-13 WDA) put together arguably their best half of basketball this season to open the contest.

Offensively, Minot High made Jamestown pay for crowding the paint. Allie Nelson, Sophie Wedar, Becca Tschetter, Tia Haskins and Landry Maragos (twice) all made 3-pointers.

Hitting from distance was complementary to the Majettes’ stout defense. The Blue Jays (11-6, 10-6 WDA) came into the contest averaging 61.8 points per game and Minot High went to halftime leading 26-16.

“We couldn’t hit anything,” said Selvig, who finished with a team-high 12 points. “We weren’t playing our game. We weren’t really ourselves that first half.”

Minot weathered a Jamestown surge to start the second half and was still up 10 points with 11 minutes remaining. But, a second wave by the Blue Jays couldn’t be contained.

Jamestown took its first lead of the game on a backdoor cut by Jessica Walter with 4:53 remaining, 41-40. Nelson, who finished with a game-high 19 points, answered on Minot’s next possession to restore the Majettes’ lead.

“I felt we outplayed them in every way,” MHS head coach Bernie Wasser said. “It just came down to a shot here and a shot there. Defensively, that might be one of the best games we have played all year. And we did some great things offensively too.”

The lead changed multiple times in the final five minutes. A drive to the rim and finish by Lauren McLean, and then steal on the baseline by Landry Maragos had the Majettes in control up 46-45 with 54.6 seconds left and had possession of the ball.

Minot turned it over and Selvig came through with a clutch triple at the other end. Minot decided not to call a timeout and played out the rest of the clock. Rosencrans and Nelson both got up 3-pointers in the final seconds, but both failed to hit the rim.

Jamestown outscored Minot, 32-20, in the second half to overcome a 10-point halftime deficit.

“We knew (Jamestown) was going to make a run, they’re a good team,” Wasser said. “We battled, but we went on a cold spell in the second half. We had good looks. We just couldn’t knock down the shots we needed.”

The Majettes have one more home game left this season on Tuesday (Feb. 12) against West Region newcomers Watford City. Tip off at the Magic City Campus is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

Alex Eisen covers Minot State athletics, the Minot Minotauros and high school sports. Follow him on Twitter @AEisen13.