White Bear Lake pulls off upset

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 girls' basketball 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 by going 4-for-4 from the free-throw line. She led the Bears 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.

Coach Kent Hamre of St. Michael-Albertville (27-3) 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.