Staff Photo by Jake Olson: Martin County West's Emily Schettler and Bailey Larson swarm on Granada Huntley East Chain/Truman/Martin Luther's Kayla Mattson during her drive to the basket in the first half of Saturday evening's game in Trimont.

TRIMONT – Emily Schettler never batted an eye.

With four seconds left in Saturday afternoon’s contest between Martin County West and Granada Huntley East Chain/Truman/Martin Luther, the Maverick senior stepped up to the free-throw line in hopes of breaking the 43-43 tie.

Schettler calmly sank both foul shots to put her team ahead with little time remaining. A turnover by the Jaguars on one last heave towards the hoop sealed things off for head coach Cliff Anderson and his team, giving MCW a victory that moved its record to 13-10 on the season and 9-3 in the Valley Conference.

The Mavericks had a balanced scoring effort with five players notching five or more points. Ida Rohman led all individuals with 10 points on two made 3-pointers. Courtney Anderson and Bailey Larson each had eight points, while Schettler had six.

“Got to give our girls a lot of credit for beating a good, well-coached Granada team,” coach Anderson said.

Schettler’s free throws capped off a 28-11 scoring run dating back to the opening moments of the second half.

The comeback started on the defensive end of the floor. MCW used its patented zone defense to limit the scoring chances of GHEC/T/ML guards Keira Benck, Londyn Bowers and Addison Nowicki over the final 15 minutes, allowing the Maverick offense to crawl its way back into the contest after hitting some key shots.

GHEC/T/ML’s trio combined for 33 points on the evening. Nowicki led all three with 14 points, while Benck and Bowers had 11 and eight, respectively.

“Well, at halftime we had no energy, and we had to get on them a little bit,” coach Anderson said. “In the second half, our girls gave it everything they could.”

Nowicki gave the Jaguars their biggest lead of the game after nailing two outside shots from the right side that gave her team a 32-17 cushion. This was part of a 12-5 scoring run hailing from the late moments of the first half.

MCW responded with a quick five-point swing to get the game back to a 10-point affair. Rohman started things off with a 3-pointer to answer Nowicki’s latest heave. Two possessions later, it was Ivy Olson cleaning up Rohman’s miss down low and converting on the layup.

Rohman brought it to a two-possession game after MCW’s timeout at the 11:55 mark, receiving a pass on the outside arc and converting her second 3-pointer of the half, cutting the lead to 32-27.

“Well, we made shots,” coach Anderson said with a chuckle. “It’s as simple as that. We weren’t making shots in the first half, and in the second, we got some higher quality looks and made them.”

After stringing together four consecutive defensive stops, the Mavericks inched closer after Anderson called her own number with a pull-up 3-pointer that put her team within one at 33-32.

But the Jaguars had a response. Nowicki found her running mate Benck on the perimeter for an outside shot before knocking down a free throw to stretch back the advantage.

Nowicki again staved off another MCW rally after knocking down two more free throws to put her team up 39-36. Bowers converted on an easy layup on the next possession following Josie Moeller’s dish down low to push the lead to five.

Coach Anderson called a timeout with 1:21 to go, hoping to draw up a competitive look at the rim with his team down 43-38. Larson answered the bell with a swift drive and score to make the game one possession. After a Jaguar miss on the other end, Schettler converted on an and-one drive to the hoop that tied things up.

“That’s a senior for us,” coach Anderson said. “Our three senior [Courtney Anderson, Emily Schettler, Addy Wohlhunter] stepped up and gave us good minutes. Very proud of them.”

On Tuesday night, MCW will play at Maple River while GHEC/T/ML hosts St. James Area. Both contests are set to start at 7 p.m.