In a Class 4A, Section 4 final decided in the last minute, it was a deep cast of bench players that pushed White Bear Lake to a 56-51 win over East Ridge and into the state tournament.

With fouls coming early and often, the teams earned their points one at a time and rapidly cycled through players. Guard Alison Hinck led the Bears in scoring with 17 points, six of which came on consecutive free throws that gave the Bears a 28-19 lead in the first half.

"I practice them all the time and coach makes us shoot 25 of them without missing two in a row at the end of practice," the senior said. "It's all about having a routine. I do two dribbles, a spin and shoot it."

Both teams hit the bonus with 10:30 remaining in the first half, which slowed the game into a chess match of fouls, free throws and substitutions. Raptors guards Noelle Tomes and Emma Stoehr attacked the hoop all night, drawing fouls and capitalizing at the line. Tomes finished with a game-high 20 points while Stoehr added 16.

East Ridge closed the gap to 34-33 at halftime and continued to push the ball inside and draw fouls.

"Start of the second half, it was just foul, foul, foul," White Bear Lake coach Jeremy Post said. "We played 12 kids and we needed every one of them tonight. Our starters were good, but our bench pulled it out for us."

Ten White Bear Lake players scored in the game, including Jordan Ferrand and Kate Brabenec, who had 10 and nine points, respectively.

Raptors posts Taylor Persche and Ashley Holton got into foul trouble early, leaving 6-foot-1 center Mariah Sexe to defend the basket. Sexe had 10 points and six blocks, but was unable to connect on two three-pointers in the closing seconds of the game.

"From the presence they have as scoring threats and setting screens for our guards to get open, it gets really difficult with them out of the game," East Ridge coach Glen Wurm said. "We had a couple of looks there at the end and it just didn't go for us."

The Raptors built a six-point lead with eight minutes left in the second half before back-to-back three-pointers by Alexa Molin and Ferrand closed the gap to one. The Bears regained the lead with free throws by Hinck, a three-pointer from Taite Anderson and stingy defense in the final minutes.

"These section finals are crazy because you play with the fans right on top of you -- it's almost more nerve-racking than state," Post said during the net-cutting ceremony. "Give East Ridge credit, no one deserved to lose tonight. If they got a couple more bounces, it could have gone their way."

In a Class 4A, Section 4 finale largely decided by free throws, first-seeded White Bear Lake beat second-seeded East Ridge 56-51 at Cretin-Derham Hall High School in St. Paul on Thursday.

Alison Hinck led the Bears with 17 points, including a streak of six consecutive free throws late in the first half. Jordan Ferrand and Kate Brabenec contributed 10 and nine points, respectively.

Raptors guards Noelle Tomes and Emma Stoehr spent much of the night at the free-throw line after drawing fouls on relentless drives to the hoop. Tomes finished with a game-high 20 points while Stoehr added 16.

White Bear Lake (20-7) had already defeated East Ridge by scores of 58-49 and 62-50 during the regular season in Suburban East Conference play. The Bears beat North St. Paul (75-31) and Woodbury (77-52) to reach the section final.

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