Red Mtn. girls edge Dobson on Maddie Willadsen free throws

Several close games have slipped away from Red Mountain's girls basketball team this season, but in its rematch Tuesday night with Dobson that wasn't the case.

Maddie Willadsen made four free throws in the final minute to break a 53-53 tie and give Red Mountain at 57-56 victory over host Dobson in a Division I contest.

It's the second big win over a contender for Red Mountain in the last week as it knocked off  Hamilton on the road last week. Red Mountain (17-6 overall, 12-4 power-point games) had suffered close losses earlier in the year to Highland, Mountain View and Dobson. Dobson (17-7, 11-3 ppg) was ranked third in the most recent D-I power-rankings and Red Mountain was No. 5.

"Maddie's free throws down the stretch were huge," Red Mountain coach Martin Appel said. "When we played the first time we missed free throws late in the game and they made theirs.That was the difference that time."

Another difference in the rematch was the steady, go-to offensive play of Red Mountain post Shea Brown. Brown was limited to 10 points in the first encounter (59-53 Dobson win). This time Brown tallied 21, making 10-of-13 shots from the floor. Most were in the low post, but she hit a big perimeter shot in the final period as the game was mostly a two-or-three point game the last quarter.

"We tried to get Shea to work deeper in the post this time and she ended up getting some good shots," Appel said. "We were looking to get a bigger game (offensively) from her."

Dobson had two excellent chances to take the lead or tie in the final 1:02. Katherine Hamilton (team-high 15 points) got free on the left baseline, but couldn't finish a layup that could have given Dobson a 55-53 lead. Maddie Willadsen ended up getting fouled nine seconds later and made the first of her four game-winning free throws.

Dobson got another layup chance with 22 seconds left after freshman Dyesha Stahley made a nice pass low to Jamie Lavanway. Lavanway missed her shot in the low post and Maddie Willadsen made her other two free throws with 20 seconds left.

Stahley made a 3 with 2.6 seconds left to pull Dobson within the final margin, but the Mustangs couldn't get off a shot after an inbounds pass with .3 seconds left.

Mariah Willadsen scored 14 points for Red Mountain and Maddie Willadsen finished with 13. Besides Hamilton's 15 for Dobson, teammates Tori Lloyd (11) and Miyah Leith (10) were in double figures.