High school girls basketball: Nightmare for Bingham’s Mackenzie Bruggeman ends with heroics vs. Syracuse

“I think they’re trying to figure out what will work and what wouldn’t work,” Rasmussen said of the varying defensive strategies in the first two rounds. “It’s hard for us because we’ve got to try and prepare for the whole darn thing. I think they throw different tweaks to see how we’ll handle it. We’re going to see something new everyday.”

On the ropes, the hunted started hunting. The Miners, enthusiastically switching screens and crashing the boards, frustrated Syracuse into five turnovers and 1-of-4 shooting from the field for the final seven minutes.

At 6:22, Jillian Powell clogged the bleeding with a pull-up jumper just inside the arc. The basket sparked a 12-2 run to close the game.

“I think being in that situation — it’s new,” Reisbeck said. “You’re playing on a big stage against a team that hasn’t lost. I’m proud of our kids. They fought to the end, and we had our opportunities.”

The Miners, who connected on 11 of 12 from the line, finally exhaled when Powell, an 82 percent free-throw shooter who Rasmussen said, “we try and get the ball in her hands,” buried both freebies in a 1-and-1 situation.

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