By Per Peterson
No one — not Tracy-Milroy-Balaton fans, not the school’s band members, and especially not the basketball players — has forgotten what it feels like to lose in the section finals. On Friday night, those feelings turned into a distant memory.
A Syd Lanoue free throw with 6.7 seconds left lifted TMB to a 49-48 win over Eden Valley-Watkins, ending a two-game finals losing streak and sending the Panthers to the state tournament.
“It feels good,” said TMB coach Derek Ashbaugh. “This is our third year in this game, and we were talking about hopefully ‘third time’s a charm.’ Working with these girls the last three years … I would’ve been heartbroken if we wouldn’t have been able to pull this off. They’ve worked so hard for this, they earned this.”
TMB (29-2) will play defending Class AA champion Roseau (24-5) at 8 p.m. Wednesday at Williams Arena in the first round of the state tournament.
For the complete story and a look ahead to state, see the March 14 edition of the Headlight-Herald.