It's a scene all too familiar for every team in Minnesota's section 6, class 1A girls basketball, but never do the reruns become dull for the Ada-Borup girls basketball team.
Ada-Borup (26-3) avenged a Jan. 26, 48-44 loss by staving off Parkers Prairie in the section 6, class 1A championship game with a 51-47 victory Friday in Moorhead at Concordia's Memorial Auditorium.
The payback win gives Ada-Borup its sixth section title in the past eight years, and it grants the Cougars another trip to the Minnesota state basketball tournament.
"It never gets old," Ada-Borup coach Dave Smart said. "It feels just like the first time we won in 2007... although it did get a little too close for comfort once (Parkers Prairie) started to push in the end."
With 10 minutes and 25 seconds to play, Ada-Borup held a 13 point lead, and it seemed as though it would run away with it as it continued its first half success with transition buckets, smart offensive cuts and stout defense to open the second half.
However, Parkers Prairie (26-2) slowly but surely pushed itself back into contention.
And push hard did the Panthers.
Parkers Prairie came within three points of Ada-Borup with 2:33 left, as the Cougars' 39-26 lead dissipated to a 42-39 margin after Madison Dorn and Micaela Noga repeatedly found and attacked gaps in Ada-Borup's defense.
Ada-Borup's Heidi Eggen would make a statement to Parkers Prairie's 13-3 scoring run by scoring two of her 11 points with two defenders attached to her, 44-39.
The Cougars had a chance to build on its lead with bonus free throws, but it only sustained it by making just three-of-six from the line, and it held a 49-44 lead with 1:08 remaining.
Dorn upped the pressure a notch on Ada-Borup, as she nailed a triple with 40.1 to play, closing the gap to a one possession game, 49-47.
30 seconds later, Dorn had the opportunity to tie the game, but Ada-Borup's Monica Vega had something else in mind - taking a charge.
"When playing for the chance to go to state, you have to lay everything on the line," Vega said. "I just tried getting into position and took the hit."
Vega, lying on the floor, got the call, and Ada-Borup's Shaina Stevenson knocked down both free throws after being fouled for the game's final points.
"We were tentative with the ball to start," Parkers Prairie coach John Noga said. "And our first half tentativeness came around again at the end. It showed when we committed turnovers and missed shots... things which killed our chances at taking the lead. The two point hump was too big for us, and it's a shame, because we are a better team than what we showed tonight."
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