HURON – On a night where points were at a premium, Waubay-Summit could not afford empty possessions.

The Mustangs were unable to get over the hump down the stretch, falling to Corsica-Stickney 38-32 in a Class B SoDak 16 girls’ basketball game at the Huron Arena. While most of the statistics were even, one glaringly stood out for Waubay-Summit: 20 turnovers.

“It’s just kind of what we talked about all year. Our Achilles heel has been turnovers and it happened again tonight,” said Waubay-Summit coach Caleb DeKam. “A lot of silly ones. When you turn the ball over 20 times, that’s 20 possessions you don’t get a shot. That’s a lot of points.”

Those turnovers were magnified in a close game in which the Mustangs trailed by just two points after an Addison Heinje 3-pointer with one minute remaining.

The Jaguars made four free throws, three by Braylee Bordewyk, in the final 36 seconds while Waubay-Summit turned the ball over twice.

“Our defense was awesome I thought tonight. Our effort was awesome,” DeKam said. “I can’t fault the girls for the effort, but it’s just going to be hard to win games when you score 32, and a lot of that was turnovers and missing some easy shots. It just came down to that.”

After watching film on the Mustangs, Corsica-Stickney coach Kyle Wieczorek spotted something he felt his team could take advantage of.

“We noticed some things that some other team’s hadn’t tried and thought we could exploit with our athleticism,” Wieczorek said. “Even though we’re not the biggest team, we do have athletes across the board.”

The strategy worked as the Jaguars held Waubay-Summit to a season low in points.

A big part of the defense was containing Mustangs scoring leader Heinje to just 11 points.

“They threw that box-and-one on, made her uncomfortable. They did a good job just being physical with her and getting to her spots,” DeKam said. “And then they did a nice job of helping, and playing without fouling and just taking away other girls’ strengths. Credit to them. They’re a good team.”

Heinje was constantly surrounded by Jaguars any time she got near the ball.

“They had good defense,” Heinje said. “I was impressed with it, honestly. It was really tough.”

The Jaguars knew what they were up against in trying to defend the standout junior.

“Watching game tape, I knew about her, but I’d never really seen her much,” Wieczorek said. “And then watching film this week, I was impressed at how gifted she is. She is just a natural athlete, no doubt about it.”

While most of the Mustangs were bottled up on offense, seventh-grader Brynlee Amdahl came off the bench to score a team-high 14 points, all but two coming on four 3-pointers.

The sharp-shooter was quick to praise those around her.

“My coaches and my teammates, they believe in me, so I think it’s something like that. … I look up to them, so I think it’s more of my teammates,” Amdahl said. “I give credit to them. They help me through it.”

Playing in the biggest game of her young career, Amdahl did not hesitate to shoot the ball. On one occasion, she missed a 3-pointer, the Mustangs grabbed the rebound, threw it right back to her and Amdahl calmed nailed her next long-range attempt.

“I was just feeling it,” Amdahl said. “I was open, so I was going to let it fly and it went in.”

Amdahl’s shooting proficiency has been on display all season.

“We’ve been saying it all year. She’s fearless,” DeKam said. “She came out. She hit shots right away. She plays with intensity. She did a nice job.”

In the end, however, too many little things did not go the Mustangs way – like making 6-of-14 free throws – in order to prolong their season, which ended with a 20-3 record.

“You pick a lot of little things, the turnovers, the free throws, a missed layup there, a missed open shot there, a missed rebound,” DeKam said. “We’ve got all summer to think about that stuff. But overall, these girls worked really hard. They did a nice job. Overall, proud of how they did this season.”

And speaking of summer, the Mustangs already have big plans for the months that lie ahead.

“We’re going to be in the gym a lot this summer and we’ll come back ready next year,” Amdahl said.

Those plans already began taking shape before the Mustangs left the facility Thursday night.

“We’re definitely going to be working. I’m really sad this year’s over. We’re really going to miss our seniors, but I’m very excited for next year, and I’m ready to get going,” said Heinje, who transferred in from Wilmot this past school year. “I love this team so much. I wouldn’t trade this for anything.”

CORSICA-STICKNEY (17-5): Braylee Bordewyk 7 7-9 22, Sophie De Lange 2 0-0 4, Hadynn Johnson 1 0-0 3, Remi Nelson 1 0-0 2, Daryan De Vries 2 1-2 5, Claire Gerlach 0 2-2 2. Totals 13-47 10-13 38.

WAUBAY-SUMMIT (20-3): Peyton Rumpza 1 0-1 2, Addison Heinje 4 4-9 13, Liza Purdy 0 0-2 0, Caley Boik 1 0-0 3, Brynlee Amdahl 4 2-2 14. Totals 10-37 6-14 32.

Corsica-Stickney 10 19 28 38

Waubay-Summit 8 15 26 32

3-point field goals – Bordewyk, Johnson; Heinje, Amdahl 4. Total fouls – Corsica-Stickney 16; Waubay-Summit 13. Rebounds – Corsica-Stickney 21 (Bordewyk 6, Johnson 5); Waubay-Summit 34 (Rumpza 11, Heinje 11). Turnovers – Corsica-Stickney 9; Waubay-Summit 20. Assists – Corsica-Stickney 3; Waubay-Summit 5 (Kayce Berger 3). Blocked shots – Corsica-Stickney 1; Waubay-Summit 3 (Heinje 3). Steals – Corsica-Stickney 15 (Bordewyk 5, De Lange 5); Waubay-Summit 1.