White Bear Lake junior guard Alexa Molin stood at the free-throw line in overtime, spinning the ball backward into her hands twice.

She crouched and dribbled the ball twice in rapid fashion before standing up and releasing her shot. Swish. Spin. Crouch. Dribble twice. Swish.

Unseeded White Bear Lake and No. 2 seed St. Michael-Albertville took each other to the brink in a game that included 14 lead changes and 16 ties. With two free throws, Molin sealed the Bears’ 72-69 upset in the Class 4A state tournament quarterfinals on Tuesday at Target Center.

“I was just trying to stay calm,” Molin said. “Just breathe and let it go. It’s a lot of pressure at the line.”

Unstoppable down the stretch, Molin scored seven of her team’s final eight points, on a three-pointer and with a perfect 4-for-4 showing from the free throw line. Molin led her team with 15 points.

“She was super clutch,” senior center Kate Brabenec said. “We practice free-throws so much and it really paid off.”

Even trailing by seven points early in the second half, White Bear Lake (23-7) never doubted its upset potential. Oddly enough, a 54-45 loss to the Knights on Dec. 30 gave the Bears faith.

“It was back and forth until they pulled away at the end,” Brabenec said of the first meeting. “So we had confidence; we wanted this matchup.”

St. Michael-Albertville (27-3) coach Kent Hamre did not. At least not in the quarterfinals, where White Bear Lake could better use its deeper roster.

“I would rather have gotten them in the next game just for some TV timeouts,” Hamre said. “We were dead tired.”

Molin noticed the momentum shift. Her three-pointer, followed by two free throws, gave the Bears a five-point lead with 35.7 seconds left.

“We pushed through and everything worked out in the end,” Molin said.

First report

White Bear Lake (23-7) upset No. 2 seed St. Michael-Albertville (27-3) 72-69 in overtime of the Class 4A quarterfinal Tuesday at Target Center.

The team were tied at 64-64 in the extra session. White Bear Lake’s Alexa Molin scored seven of her team’s final eight points. St. Michael-Albertville had defeated the Bears 54-45 on Dec. 30.

St. Michael-Albertville held a 26-23 halftime lead. Neither team led by more than three points through the second half. The teams went to overtime tied 60-60.

The loss snapped the Knights’ winning streak at 14 games.

Check back later for more on the game.