---

The name of the game was free throws - Darlington made theirs, Mineral Point didn't. But Darlington shot more too.
That was it in a nutshell when the Darlington girls basketball team won the Division 4 Regional title Saturday night against the Pointers 57-53.
The Redbirds finished the night going 25/31 from the charity stripe while Mineral Point was 7/18.
It was a physical game and the Redbirds felt that early as two starters, Kaylee Meyers and Kennedy Rankin, were in early foul trouble. But that set the stage for two off the bench, Casey Glendenning and Brenna McDonald, to contribute with eight and seven points respectively.
The Pointers led 6-2, but a 10-0 run by the Birds put them up 12-6, the largest lead by either team the entire game. But the Pointers answered and led 13-12.
The lead switched four more times and Darlington led 25-24 with 1:32 left in the period. The Pointers got buckets by Malorie Johnson, McKenna Reichling and Morgan James and led 30-27 at intermission.
To start the second half, a Myers 3-pointer gave Darlington the lead at 35-32, but a three point play by Reichling and a trey from Kaitlyn Kinch put them back up 44-42.
Darlington led again 46-44 on a bucket by Rankin, but Dana Schmitz knotted it again for the Pointers with two free throws at the 3:34 mark.
Redbird Chelsie Golackson hit two from the line with 3:22 left to put her team up for good.
The Pointers got to within two twice in the final 30 seconds - once when Kinch hit a 3-pointer and again when she hit a basket at the :28 mark.
Two free throws by Rankin at :06 sealed it for the Redbirds.
"We felt confident heading into this game," Pointer coach Mitch Wainwright said. "The girls were looking forward to a rematch and we had good practices and the first game against Boscobel went well, so we were ready."
He added, "I thought both teams were feeling each other out early in the game, and then Darlington started to apply more pressure in their half-court defense. We missed some good opportunities because of the pressure and turned the ball over too many times. Once we settled down, we were able to attack their defense and get good shots inside. We moved the ball well for the rest of the half and took advantage of some foul trouble."
"I thought we had a good game plan for them, and when we executed, it worked fairly well," Wainwright went on saying. "Defensively, we did a great job limiting the number of easy transition baskets they were able to get and kept Meyers in check. At the end of the game, we were not able to keep the ball out of her hands so we were fouling her to try and stop the clock. She went to the line and hit 7 out of 8 from the line down the stretch."
He also said, "We had our chances all night and just couldn't finish the game. As was the case all season long, we did not shoot our own free throws very well being 7 - 18 as a team."
"I am very proud of what this team did all season long and want to thank all the players for their hard work. It is always hard to have the season end, no matter where it happens along the tournament run. The 3 senior girls will be missed next season, and I wish them the best of luck," he concluded saying.
The three seniors graduating are Malorie Johnson, Amanda Murphy and Peyton Ross.
SCORE BY HALVES
MP  30 23-53
Da 27 30-57
BOX SCORE
MINERAL POINT 53 (fg, ft, tp) N. Johnson 2-0/2-4, Lindsey 0-0-0, Aschliman 1-1/2-3, M. James 4-1/2-9, M. Johnson 6-1/5-13, Reichling 4-2/3-11, Schmitz 0-2/4-2, Kinch 4-0-11. Totals 21-7/18-53. F-24. 3-pointers:  Kinch 3, Reichling 1.
DARLINGTON 57 McDonald 2-5/6-9, Glendenning 4-2/2-10, Mathias 2-4/5-8, Crist 0-1/2-1, Golackson 0-4/6-4, Rankin 2-2/2-6, Meyers 4-7/8-17. Totals 15-25/31-57. F-17. 3-pointers: Meyers 2.