WATERTOWN – On a night where Northwestern’s defense was stellar, its offense was mostly silent.

The Wildcats rallied from a double-digit deficit, but could never get over the hump in a 34-29 loss to Dell Rapids St. Mary in a Class B SoDak 16 girls’ basketball matchup at the Watertown Civic Arena Thursday night.

Northwestern had a couple of chances to take the lead in the closing minutes, but as was the case most of the night could not put the ball in the basket.

“It just wasn’t going to go in at all. It was very much a defensive game, I would say,” said Northwestern junior Ashley Haven. “They ran away from us a little bit, but we climbed right back into it. I’m just so proud of everyone this season.”

Trailing by 11 points in the third quarter, Northwestern coach Jason Sparling called a time out and spoke directly to Haven.

“I said the combine’s broke and a storm’s coming. What are you going to do?” Sparling said. “And if you know Ashley Haven, she is a farmer, farmer, farmer, and she’s proud of it. And she looked at me and said ‘I’ve got this.’ And you see what she did.”

Haven scored 10 points the rest of the way to keep the Wildcats in the game. She found a play that worked to her liking as Northwestern kept inching closer and closer.

“They have really good pressure out on the outside, so really trying to find our way to work it inside was really a struggle, but once we got it, I was curling around,” Haven said. “We got a couple of those that really got the fire going. We were down by one, we just could not find our shots to fall tonight.”

Defensively, the Wildcats caused all sorts of problems for DRSM as Haven finished with six blocked shots in the contest.

“We went there and we weren’t sure to put it up there or what,” said Cardinals coach Ed Gustafson, “and the basket gets narrower and narrower when that happens.”

However, St. Mary was able to take advantage of numerous second-chance opportunities, thanks to a dozen offensive rebounds in the game.

“They just always seemed to find our one girl who wasn’t boxing out and just capitalized on it,” said lone Northwestern senior Adriana Ratigan.

With the game hanging in the balance, DRSM’s Madala Hanson drove down the lane and banked in a shot in the final minute to make it a two-possession game and seal the victory for the Cardinals.

Neither team shot the ball well (the two squads combined to shoot 3-of-50 from 3-point range), but their defenses allowed them to stay in it.

“We didn’t shoot it very well in this game at all,” Gustafson said, “but we played great defense and that’s what brought us home.”

Northwestern also executed its defensive strategy, but it wasn’t quite enough.

“Our game plan was there,” Sparling said, “we just fell short tonight.”

The contest left the Wildcats wondering what might have been had they made just one or two more plays.

“It just makes you think, what if I would have made that one, what if I would have made this one, and what if I wouldn’t have turned the ball over?” Ratigan said. “That really just plays back in your head the whole time.”

Haven scored 17 points and Ratigan had 12, the only two players to score for the Wildcats, who were without starters Ella Boekelheide and Josie Sparling due to injuries.

“They do so much. Together those two would average 20 rebounds a game,” Coach Sparling said of his injured players. “And for us, that took a lot of pressure off of everybody else.”

The Wildcats finished the year at 17-6. It marked the final prep game for Ratigan, who has committed to play at Dakota Wesleyan next season.

“Basketball has been my sport since probably second grade. That’s when I really found my love for it,” Ratigan said. “It’s the end for high school basketball, but I will get to play four more years and I think that really puts it into more perspective.”

NORTHWESTERN (17-6): Ashley Haven 8 1-2 17, Adriana Ratigan 6 0-4 12. Totals 14-41 1-6 29.

DELL RAPIDS ST. MARY (17-6): Maddyn LeBrun 2 1-2 5, Briana Griffin 2 1-2 6, Addison Libis 2 0-0 6, Jenna Miller 2 0-4 4, Madala Hanson 5 3-6 13. Totals 13-57 5-14 34.

Northwestern 6 11 19 29

Dell Rapids St. Mary 8 14 28 34

3-point field goals – Griffin, Libis 2. Total fouls – Northwestern 13; Dell Rapids St. Mary 11. Rebounds – Northwestern 38 (Ratigan 12); Dell Rapids St. Mary 30 (LeBrun 8). Turnovers – Northwestern 16; Dell Rapids St. Mary 3. Assists – Northwestern 10 (Breelyn Satter 4, Tara Blachford 4); Dell Rapids St. Mary 7. Blocked shots – Northwestern 6 (Haven 6); Dell Rapids St. Mary 0. Steals – Northwestern 1; Dell Rapids St. Mary 7 (Hanson 3).