The situation comes up in practice all the time, Marshall’s Callie Graff said, but she never thought it would actually happen.

The senior forward made two free throws with 3.7 seconds left in the Class 3A semifinal game at Williams Arena to lift the Tigers to a come-from-behind 52-51 victory over Fergus Falls.

“We do that in practice a lot. ‘This is for the state championship, this is to send it to overtime,’ ” Graff said. “But no, I never thought it would actually happen.”

Fergus Falls led 30-21 at halftime and extended the margin to 35-24 early in the second half. The No. 2-seeded Otters were finding easy lanes to the basket while Marshall couldn’t get its shots to fall. Marshall made just 7 of 30 field goal attempts in the first half.

The Tigers got a second-half boost from senior Kenzie Beekman, who scored all 11 of her points after halftime.

“We look to her for leadership,” Marshall coach Dan Westby said. “The team really rallies around her.”

Westby coached nine of the girls to the Class 2A volleyball championship last fall. That experience, he said, was a big factor in the Tigers’ rally. 

Graff’s free throws rescued the Tigers’ comeback. They had taken as 50-47 lead only to give it back, 51-50, with 20.1 seconds on two free throws by Bailey Strand.

“Playing for the volleyball championship had to help,” Westby said. “But most of all, these girls battled. They never gave up.”


Photo gallery: Marshall 52, Fergus Falls 51