The Minneapolis and Southeast of Saline girls basketball teams played an instant classic on Friday night, with Southeast winning the game on a buzzer beater, 61-59.

Both teams battled all game long as they were tied 32-32 at halftime.

Southeast of Saline came out of the halftime break and built a seven point lead right away, 44-37. However, the Lady Lions put together an 11-0 run to end out the third, taking a 48-44 lead in to the fourth.

The two teams continued to battled until the game was tied at 59-59 in the final minute.

SES had the ball with under 15 seconds remaining. Karsyn Schlesener shot up a short-range jumper in the final five seconds and missed, however, nowhere boxed her out and she was able to get the rebound a put-back just before the final buzzer to win the game.

Minneapolis (5-12, 2-7 NCAA) let a 10 point fourth quarter lead slip away as the Lady Lions struggled with the pressure from the Lady Trojans. Minneapolis was led by Courtney Forte in the game as she led all scorers with a monster 26 point, 20 rebound effort in the loss. Meanwhile, both Kersti Nelson and Cameron Cleveland had 14 points, each.

Southeast of Saline (12-5, 6-3 NCAA) made eight 3-pointers in the game. Schlesener scored 23 points–including the game’s winning bucket for SES. Madison Fear tacked on 15 points, while Keely Orr scored 10.

Southeast of Saline travels to Ellsworth next, while Minneapolis hosts Republic County.

MINNEAPOLIS BOYS 66, Southeast of Saline 41

Minneapolis put together a 24 point third quarter to blow the game at Southeast of Saline wide open on Friday night.

The Lions led 26-16 at halftime, but felt like they could have led by more due to nine turnovers in the first half.

Minneapolis left no doubt, though, in the third stanza as the Lions avenged a prior loss to SES earlier this year. Trent Moeckel got Minneapolis going with a 3-pointer in the period. That’s when Nolan White responded with two of his own for the Lions in the quarter. Meanwhile, both Kaden Griffin and Jonah Ausherman pummeled SES on the interior with close-in buckets.

After the dust settled, Minneapolis had outscored SES 24-11 in the quarter and had a 50-27 lead going in to the final quarter.

Southeast of Saline (11-6, 5-4 NCAA) struggled with a the switching zone defenses of Minneapolis. Bryant Banks led all scorers with 18 points.

Minneapolis (12-5, 6-3 NCAA) has now won three-straight games on the year. White led the Lions with 14 points, while Griffin had 13. Spencer Davidson chipped in 11 points in the win.

Southeast of Saline will travel to Ellsworth on Tuesday, while Minneapolis entertains Republic County. The Minneapolis Lions’ game is on 92.7 The New Zoo, beginning around 5:45 p.m.