BARABOO - Its 16-point third-quarter lead seemingly evaporated as quickly as it evolved, but even after the Sauk Prairie prep girls basketball team relinquished its firm grip on fate March 13, the Eagles were poised for a memorable finish.

Kelsey Budd's old-fashioned three-point play with five minutes to play in a WIAA Division 2 regional final suddenly had the second-seeded Eagles ahead of top-seeded Richland Center by four after the Hornets briefly went in front to start the fourth quarter.

"I felt we'd come down, get a stop and then on our end we could start getting some momentum again," Eagles coach Bob Marquardt said of that point in the game.

Only Hornets' guard Kelsey Collins had other ideas. She answered with a 3-pointer for the first of seven straight points during an 11-0 run that gave her team a seven-point lead with a little more than 2 minutes left.

That was just enough for the Hornets to dodge a 3-of-8 effort from the free throw line down the stretch and hold on for a 51-49 win only after Budd missed the second of three free throws after being fouled on a tying 3-point try as time expired.

"Give her credit," Marquardt said of Collins, who scored 17 in the game - including the first six of a 17-2 run that helped the Hornets go ahead 33-32 early in the fourth after trailing 30-16 with just less than 6 minutes left in the third. "She played big for them in the second half."

Collins did after only scoring two points in the first half. And when she got going after halftime, that forced the Eagles to focus more on the perimeter.

"We had to help more, kind of put a defender more out on (her)," Marquardt said of a move that opened things up inside for Alyssa Krajco, a 5-foot-11 forward who took advantage by scoring eight of the final 10 points during the first run. "It just wasn't a good combination, those two girls together."

After Sauk Prairie (20-5) went ahead 39-35 behind seven straight points from Budd, Richland Center (22-2) was able to use the 11-0 run to go ahead 46-39. The Hornets stayed in front 48-41 when Collins made two free throws with 1:11 left, but then the Eagles rallied.

Aimee Thrune, who complemented Budd's game-best 28 points with 12 points, made 1-of-2 free throws and Budd scored the next six points to get the Eagles within 49-48 with :26.8 left.

Taylor Wilson made two free throws to make it 51-48 with :25.4 left, but Collins missed two free throws and a chance to ice the game with :14.3 to go after an empty possession for the Eagles. That set up Budd's tying 3-point try from the left wing, which was partially blocked by Mara Anderson before Anderson was whistled for the foul.

Asked to comment on missing the second free throw, Budd said: "I wouldn't pick myself to be on the line - if I made them all, I wouldn't want the glory - but I'll take the fall for my team."

"They kept fighting back," she added of the comeback for the Hornets, who beat the Eagles on a buzzer beater earlier in the season. "I respect them for being able to do that, in this atmosphere, and really coming out strong (in the second half)."

Richland Center needed a strong second half after Budd scored all 10 of the Sauk Prairie's points during a 10-2, first-half finishing run that turned a tie game into a 24-16 halftime lead for the Eagles.

Budd got a fastbreak lay-in between baskets by Brittany Hahn during a 6-0 run to start the third quarter that made it 30-16 2:02 into the quarter.

But the Hornets got going from there, ending an Eagles' season that saw them earn a share of the Badger North Conference title for the second straight season after not doing so since 1976.

Last season, the Eagles won 19 games and came within one win of their first state tournament berth, and their 20 wins this season are the most in program history.

"They're just a group of winners," an emotional Marquardt said after emerging from the locker room of seniors Budd, Thrune, Rachel Meyer, Jen Wilkinson, Janessa Muchow and Andrea Fiene. "They've won at every level, and they've displayed a (high) level of commitment and camaraderie.

"They've set a good example for the rest of our program to follow, and they'll be missed big time next year."

Sauk Prairie 8 16 8 17 - 49

Richland Center 8 8 15 20 - 51

SAUK PRAIRIE: Lacey Puls 5, Brittany Hahn 4, Kelsey Budd 28, Aimee Thrune 12. Totals (field goals free throws made-attempted points) 17 14-27 49.

RICHLAND CENTER: E. Anderson 3, Lynch 3, Beranek 2, Collins 17, Krajco 16, T. Wilson 10. Totals: 18 10-18 51.

3-point goals: Sauk Prairie 1 (Thrune 1). Richland Center 5 (Collins 2, T. Wilson 2, E. Anderson 1). Total fouls: Sauk Prairie 18. Richland Center 22.

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