Girls basketball: Peterson beats the buzzer in Braves’ win

BENSON — Emma Peterson’s runner in the lane fell at the buzzer and the Braves came away with a 63-62 non-conference win over Hancock on Thursday.

Trailing by one, Benson had fewer than four seconds left in the game to go the length of the court for a final attempt. Peterson took the inbounds pass and raced down the court, floating up the game-winner as time expired.

“It was a pretty exciting game and a nice win,” said Braves head coach Chelsea Stiel.

The Braves improve to 2-4 overall, and they play at Morris/Chokio-Alberta at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Peterson led the Braves with 22 points and 13 rebounds. Alexa Nissen hit three 3-point shots and finished with 15 points and 8 boards. Krista Motzko had 11 points.

Hancock’s Courtney Greiner and Gabbi Nienhaus both scored 16 points and Nienhaus had 12 rebounds. Lexi Steege had 10 points, 6 assists and 6 steals.

The Braves led by as many as 16 points and held a 12-point edge at halftime.

But the Owls kept chipping away at the lead and led by three in the final minute before Nissen hit a 3-pointer to tie the game. The Braves fouledNienhaus, who made one foul shot to put the Owls up 62-61 before Peterson’s buzzer-beater.

The Owls fell to 2-3, and they play Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley at 7:30 p.m. today.

Benson 63, Hancock 62

Hancock (2-3) 18 44 — 62

Benson (2-4) 30 33 — 63

HANCOCK – 26-75 FG (2-16 3-pt); 8-15 FT; 40 rebounds; 12 fouls … Scoring: Courtney Greiner 16, Gabbi Nienhaus 16, Serandon Bigalke 13, Lexi Steege 10, Sami Schmidgall 6, Kassandra Algarate 1 … 3-point shots: Bigalke 2 … Rebound leaders: Nienhaus 12 … Assist leaders: Steege 6 … Steal leaders: Steege 6

BENSON – 26-72 FG (5-27 3-pt); 6-9 FT; 43 rebounds; 15 fouls … Scoring: Emma Peterson 22, Alexa Nissen 15, Krista Motzko 11, Cyra Carlson 6, Hannah Ricard 5, Haley Moseng 4 … 3-point shots: Nissen 3, Peterson 2 … Rebound leaders: Peterson 13, Nissen 8 … Assist leaders: Carlson 3 … Steal leaders: Peterson 6