Sherman’s Kelsey Wagner puts up a shot while being defended by Southwestern’s Marlana Cresanti (4) during nonleague girls basketball action on Thursday. P-J photo by Scott Kindberg

Kelsey Wagner had only one field goal through 32 minutes in a nonleague basketball game at Southwestern on Thursday night, but the Sherman senior sure made up for it in overtime.

In a battle of state-ranked teams — the Wildcats are fourth in Class D and the Trojans are 10th in Class B — Wagner came up huge in the extra session, scoring 9 points to send Sherman to a 54-46 victory.

“That’s a sign of a senior leader who is willing to just keep shooting the shots she knows she can make,” Wildcats coach Emily Eckwahl said.

Tied at 39 after regulation, Wagner and Southwestern’s Juliet Genareo traded baskets in the first minute of OT. Then Wagner changed the momentum for good, banking in a 3-pointer to give Sherman the lead at 44-41.

“The banks are open late tonight in Lakewood,” Eckwahl said with a smile.

Southwestern’s Braya Beaver attempts to drive past Sherman’s Emmersen Crawford during Thursday’s nonleague game. P-J photo by Scott Kindberg

Teammate Baya Oehlbeck followed with another trey 30 seconds later, and Wagner hit a free throw and had another make from distance. Armed with a 51-41 lead with 1:45 remaining, the Wildcats held on for the win.

Sherman led by as many as 11 points before the break, but Southwestern, which turned the ball over 15 times in the first half, finished the second quarter on a 7-2 run to trim the deficit to 26-20.

“In the first half we generated the turnovers, but we didn’t convert them into points,” Eckwahl said. ” … We were panicked. We had a slight lead at halftime, but I reminded them that this is what we need. To play in games we want to play in (in the playoffs), we need this experience to draw from.”

The Trojans didn’t go away after intermission either.

In fact, behind 6 points from Bella Sirianni, Southwestern outscored the Wildcats 9-3 in the third period to tie the game at 29 heading into the final eight minutes.

In the fourth quarter, there were three ties and three lead changes, but after Gianna Sirianni’s 3-pointer from the corner knotted the game at 39 with 1:30 remaining, the score remained unchanged the rest of the way thanks to turnovers and missed free throws.

Once in the extra session, Wagner took over, sending Sherman to its 19th win of the season against one loss. In addition to her 12 points, she also collected 10 rebounds, five steals and three assists. Teammate Teagan Gratto finished with 17 points and seven rebounds; Oehlbeck added 13 points; Emmersen Crawford pulled down nine rebounds; and Isa Kioko chipped in five steals and three assists.

For Southwestern (16-3), which lost at Sherman 52-34 on Jan. 21, Ellie Pearson scored 11 points, grabbed seven rebounds and had five steals; Braya Beaver added 10 points and six rebounds; Bella Sirianni chipped in 9 points, five rebounds and six assists; and Gianna Sirianni finished with 8 points — all in the fourth quarter — and three assists.

“This is what we need,” Trojans coach Kay Sirianni said. “We knew this didn’t matter. Win or lose, we’re still going to be in the same playoff position. We scheduled Sherman knowing this was going to be a great, competitive game, and it was.”

SHERMAN (54)

Gable 2 0 4, Emory 0 0 0, Kioko 1 1 3, Chambers 0 0 0, Crawford 2 1 5, Wagner 4 1 12, Gratto 6 4 17, Oehlbeck 6 0 13. Totals 21 7 54.

SOUTHWESTERN (46)

GSirianni 3 0 8, Lewis 0 0 0, Cresanti 1 2 4, BBeaver 3 3 10, BSirianni 3 2 9, CBeaver 1 0 2, Pearson 4 2 11, Genareo 1 0 2. Totals 16 9 46.

3-point goals–Wagner 3, Gratto, Oehlbeck, GSirianni 2, BBeaver, BSirianni, Pearson.

Sherman 18 8 3 10 15 — 54

Southwestern 13 7 9 10 7 — 46