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REDWOOD FALLS - Bailey Bouman intensely focused on the orange rim, flexed her knees and followed through on her textbook release.

Nearly nothing but net.

The 5-foot-10 senior guard connected on a staggering 14 of 18 free throws during the final six minutes of regulation to help the No. 2-seeded Pipestone Area Arrows fend off the No. 1-seeded Fairmont Cardinals' late comeback, 57-47, in Friday night's Section 3AA, South Sub-Section championship game in Redwood Falls.

Pipestone Area (21-3), the defending Section 3AA champion, advances to face North Sub-Section winner Lac qui Parle Valley at 5 p.m. next Friday at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall for the sectional crown and a trip to the Class AA state tournament.

"I'm proud of what this team accomplished this season (co-South Central Conference champions with Blue Earth Area), and thought the girls really came together," said Fairmont mentor Don Waletich, whose lineup ended its stellar campaign with a 20-3 record.

Trailing 27-18 at intermission, senior post player Alyssa Niss and junior forward Kirsten True served as the Cardinals' second-half offensive catalysts.

True, who finished with 11 points, converted Jami Riley's threaded pass through traffic into Fairmont's first two points of the final 18 minutes before True and Niss worked the paint to combine for six unanswered points on the heels of Arrow guard Bree Woelber's pull-up 10-footer in the lane.

True utilized nifty footwork under the backboard to squeeze in a low-post leaner before snapping the nets on a bump-and-fade baseline jumper to force Pipestone Area to call timeout at the 13:14 juncture.

Niss, who closed out her stellar four-year prep career with a team-leading 17 points and six rebounds, displayed her mettle by weaving through the Arrows' smothering rotating defense for a jumpshot runner to whittle the Cardinals' deficit to 31-27.

Niss converted an assist from Mary Hitchcock for a 10-foot leaner two minutes later to reduce Pipestone Area's margin to four again, but that's as close as Fairmont would get before Bouman fueled her game-leading 23-point performance by sinking 14 charity tosses down the stretch.

Senior guard Ariel Berhow, who closed out her outstanding four-year career, sank two free throws and hit a 3-pointer with less than a minute remaining before True drilled another 3-pointer to close within six with 39 seconds remaining.

Bouman, however, had the final word by snapping the nets on four consecutive free throws during the last 34 seconds to preserve the 10-point triumph.

Bree Woelber contributed 21 points, including 14 of the Arrows' 27 first-half points, along with eight rebounds, five assists and three steals to the defending sectional champions' performance.

Woelber erupted for eight points during Pipestone Area's pivotal 12-3 run to extend her team's advantage to 25-13 with three minutes remaining in the opening segment.

Section 2AA Playoffs

Blue Earth Area 41, Maple River 35 - The No. 1-seeded Bucs connected on 14 of 17 free throws during the second half en route to scoring the final 11 points of regulation to power past the No. 4-seeded Eagles, 41-35, during sub-section semifinal action Friday night in Blue Earth.

Blue Earth Area (19-5) advances to face Hayfield at 8 p.m. Monday night in the Section 2AA, South Sub-Section championship game at Minnesota State University, Mankato.

Maple River ended its season with a 19-6 record.

Ashley Olson poured in a game-leading 15 points and pocketed three steals to pace the Bucs' winning ways.

Hayley Pirsig tallied eight points, while teammate Kate Hassing delivered six points, five rebounds, three steals and three assists for Blue Earth Area.

Meghan Mittelstadt also pulled down five rebounds for the Bucs, while Alicia Rorman pocketed a steal-turned-layup with 45 seconds left in regulation to seal the victory.

Blue Earth Area made 12 of 30 field goals and 14 of 20 free throws, while Maple River hit 13 of 30 shots from the floor and 6 of 12 at the line.

Skye Boesch scored eight points to pace the Eagles.

M. River 17-18-35

BEA 16-25-41