LaMoure-Litchville-Marion’s Addy Smith drives to the basket against Washburn’s Mae Jennings (1) as Chev Obering (3) attempts to get a hand on the ball during the first half of a quarterfinal round game at the Class B state tournament on Thursday, March 5, at the MSU Dome. Mike Kraft/MDN

Its record might not indicate it, but the LaMoure-Litchville-Marion girls basketball team is no stranger to overcoming first-half deficits.

The Loboes found themselves in a less than ideal situation on the biggest of stages, trailing by 12 points halfway through the fourth quarter in the quarterfinal round of the Class B State Tournament. With the hope of their first state title slipping away, the Loboes pulled off a furious comeback, scoring 20 of the final 22 points for a 43-37 victory over Washburn on Thursday, March 5, at the MSU Dome.

“It was not pretty,” LaMoure-L-M coach Ben Holen said. “Defensively, we were able to turn them over a few times and get something easy in transition because we were completely out of rhythm the entire night on offense. Our defense bailed us out in that sense. It led to some offense when we desperately needed it.”

LaMoure-L-M (25-2) led for all of 22 seconds in the opening moments of the game and didn’t see the lead again until the final 62 seconds of regulation after a layup from Norah DelaBarre put the Loboes in front 38-36. DelaBarre knocked down a pair of free throws 36 seconds earlier to pull the Loboes even.

“We were just thinking that it’s now or never.” DelaBarre said. “I’ve never seen that be more true than that fourth quarter. We really just had to dig as deep as we could and come together as a team and we did that well and pulled that off.”

The Loboes – the No. 3 seed – used the free-throw line to fuel the comeback, hitting 16 of 20 attempts at the charity stripe in the fourth quarter. LaMoure-L-M entered the fourth quarter with just 19 points, but outscored the Cardinals 24-11 over the final eight minutes to advance to the semifinals, where they will play defending state champion Benson County at 1 p.m. on Friday, March 6, at the MSU Dome. The Loboes lost to Benson County in the opening round at the state tournament last year.

The sixth-seeded Cardinals (18-10) seemed poised to pull the upset and earn their first quarterfinal victory at the state tournament since 2003. Kesia Boeshans connected on back-to-back jumpers and Brooklyn Hetletved drained a 3-pointer to put Washburn up 35-23 midway through the fourth quarter for its largest lead of the game. The Cardinals were making their first appearance at the state tournament since 2011.

The Loboes held Washburn to just two free throws the rest of the way, closing the game on a 20-2 run.

“That was probably our biggest comeback,” Holen said. “We have come back from five, six a few times, 10 or 11 one time. We’ve played from behind more than our record would indicate, but I’m just proud of the girls for finding a way to get it done because it certainly wasn’t pretty.”

DelaBarre finished with 11 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for a double-double.

DelaBarre and Addy Smith accounted for 24 of the team’s 32 points in the second half. Smith led all scorers with 21 points, pouring in 13 in the second half. She did a lot of her damage at the free-throw line, going 11-for-12. After starting 1-for-8 from the field in the opening half, Smith closed the game by hitting 4 of 7 shots.

“I was just attacking and getting the ball to the rim, trying to create plays for teammates, but at the same time if they help off on to them then my shot is open,” Smith said.

The Loboes couldn’t buy a bucket in the first 16 minutes. They shot just 8 percent from the field, missing 23 of their first 25 shots. Smith and Addie Robbins had the only two field goals in the first half for LaMoure-L-M.

“We were dictating where the ball was going and how it was getting there,” Washburn coach Jarod Obering said. “They were able to still get a lot of offensive rebounds on us, but they didn’t convert much. We dictated tempo and we were successful doing that.”

LaMoure-L-M had just five points at the end of the first quarter and trailed 11-5.

“They have really good players and defenders,” Holen said. “They were picking us up and dictating where we were starting our offense. We were way too far out on the perimeter and then we got caught ball watching. Rather than combat their aggression with aggression – active cutting, active ball reversals, looking inside, paint touches – we stood around and that played right into the style they were looking to bring. Credit to them. They defended well.”

Sadie Goven and Chev Obering led the offense early for the Cardinals. The two combined for 15 of their 17 first-half points. Goven led the Cardinals with 10 points, Boeshans had 9 and Obering finished with 8.

The Cardinals led 17-11 at the half. For the Loboes, trailing at the break was nothing new for a team with 25 wins and just two losses this season.

“Believe it or not, we’ve been down at half quite a bit,” DelaBarre said. “We love to finish a game stronger than we start. All that practice in the beginning of the season, we actually have done that quite a bit. We like to put on a show for our crowd.”

It was the eighth time this season the Loboes have played a game decided by fewer than 10 points.

The Cardinals play a consolation semifinal game against Edgeley/Kulm/Montpelier at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, March 6, at the MSU Dome.