With a steal for a layup with just over a minute left and another clutch layup moments later for a 62-57 lead, Jace Schauman kept the Indians in check late to preserve a 62-58 win in a Tomahawk Division girls basketball game.

Her big sister Jaelynn Schauman may have given the Indians (14-11, 10-6) a 58-56 lead with less than four minutes left, but after back-and-forth empty trips up the floor by both teams and a timeout, Jace Schauman picked a pocket and took the ball in for a layup for a big layup and 60-56 lead with a little more than a minute to play. After a free throw by Jada Reese had the Tigers (9-13, 7-8) down 60-57 moments later, Jace Schauman came up clutch again with another bucket inside for a 62-57 lead with 45 seconds left.

That bucket came on a drive to the hoop and off the glass and was assisted on by her big sister from the low block. A free throw by Kendall Krueger with 10 seconds left was the last point the Tigers got as the Indians hung on.

“I just was kind of like, ‘We’ve got to take it slow,'” Jace Schauman said. “If we get rushed and frustrated, then we’re going to make the simple mistakes. So we just had to stay calm and then work together and try to get [the lead] back up and keep going.”

Staff photo by Travis Rosenau Sleepy Eye’s Jaelynn Schauman (21) puts up a jump shot over Springfield’s Olivia Milbrath (13) during a Tomahawk Division girls basketball game at Springfield High School on Tuesday night.

Jace Schauman finished with 18 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and six steals, while Taylor Berkner had 16 points, three assists and two blocks and Alexis Hoffman had 12 points. Jaelynn Schauman added 11 points, seven rebounds and five assists, while Destiney Dittbenner had 5 points, four steals and two blocks.

Jada Reese did what she could to keep the Tigers in the game as she hit four 3s and finished with 23 points, five rebounds and four steals.

“She’s one of our leaders and she has a really hard job because, one, she’s gonna be on the other team’s best player every single night, which the other team’s best player isn’t subbing out a whole lot,” Tigers head coach Decker Scheffler said. “So Jada is having to do that for anywhere from 32 to 36 minutes, and she’s also never subbing out. So chasing around the other team’s best player for an entire game and trying to produce on offense for an entire game and never subbing out is a really tough thing. But she’s handled it like a champ so far this year.”

Despite Reese’s production and Krueger’s 13-point, 15-rebound double-double, the Tigers didn’t get the same kind of balanced scoring to counter Sleepy Eye’s attack in a physical game.

“[Jaelynn] Schauman that they have, that post player, she’s a very good rebounder,” Scheffler said. “One of the best rebounders I’ve seen this year and we’ve played over 20 games. She’s one of the strongest rebounders that I’ve seen.

Staff photo by Travis Rosenau Springfield’s Jada Reese watches one of her 3-pointers drop in during a Tomahawk Division girls basketball game against Sleepy Eye on Tuesday at Springfield High School.

“So we knew that was one of our focuses, like they’re going to shoot some 3s and we’re gonna let a couple of them shoot some 3s just to pack the lane on Berkner, once again like we did last time. And we knew we had to really box out Schauman or she’s going to keep giving them second chances. I think we did a pretty decent job on her overall on not letting her get too many second-chance points.”

Olivia Milbrath added 8 points and five rebounds for the Tigers.

Springfield took the first lead of the game on a Reese jumper. The Tigers extended their early lead to 6-1 after Krueger scored inside and Reese stole a pass off a press and dished it to Milbrath inside for 2.

Reese hit a 3 moments later to give the Tigers a 12-6 lead, but the Indians rallied and started to figure out how to break the press. A bucket inside from Jace Schauman, followed by a 3 from Hoffman and a fast-break layup by Jace Schauman had the Indians ahead for the first time at 13-12.

A free throw by Isabella Groebner tied the game up after that and a cut to the hoop and score from Makay Winkelmann gave the Tigers the lead again.

The lead was brief as Jaelynn Schauman scored inside and Dittbenner hit a go-ahead 3 for an 18-15 Sleepy Eye lead.

Sleepy Eye stretched its lead to 32-22 late in the half after a 3 from Hoffman. Springfield got a 7-0 run to end the half strong, however, as Krueger made a pair of free throws and Jada Reese drained a 3 and scored on a drive to her left to trail 32-29 at halftime.

“Later on we made her put it on the floor,” Sleepy Eye head coach Grant Romberg said of Jada Reese. “I knew that both Jada and her younger sister [Noelle] hit one or two, and I said, ‘I know they’ll shoot deep 3s, but I’d rather have them put it on the floor than shoot it.’ … And we made that adjustment and gave them a little less room. They still hit a couple, but I definitely think we made them think about it a little.”

After Jace Schauman opened the second half with a 3, Reese answered with a 3 of her own in an early preview of what was to come in the half. The Tigers hung around and eventually took the lead back, 43-42, after 3s from Groebner and Krueger, but the lead was brief as Hoffman buried a 3 to put the Indians back in front 45-43. That 3 kick-started a 10-0 run by Sleepy Eye to put it up 52-43.

Reese took over for the Tigers late with a free throw, a bucket and an and-one to have her team down 52-49. After Berkner stopped the 6-0 run by Reese with a bucket inside, Reese hit her fourth 3 of the game to have the Tigers down 54-52. Eventually the Tigers were able to tie it at 56-56 on a bucket inside by Krueger, setting up the final four minutes.

With the season winding down and playoffs approaching, Jace Schauman said Tuesday’s win was a step back in the right direction for Sleepy Eye.

“[Monday] was kind of a tough loss [to Mountain Lake], because they were kind of a good matchup and had the same record as us,” Jace Schauman said. “So tonight was a good win to keep us pushing forward and keep going. With playoffs, anything can happen in the playoffs. It’s always kind of a crazy situation, the environment’s kind of crazy. We have a lot of new girls, but I feel like if we stay calm and play the ball we’ve been playing all season, it’ll go OK.”

Before playoffs begin, Sleepy Eye has one more regular season game on the schedule when they play at Cleveland on Monday. Springfield, meanwhile, plays in Winthrop against Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop in another Tomahawk Division game on Thursday.