For eight minutes Saturday night, it looked like the 12th ranked Perry Jayette basketball team was on its way back to the Regional Final for the third straight year.  Then, Winterset senior Mariah Criswell stepped up.  The Huskies rallied from a 23-5 first quarter deficit to defeat the Jayettes 63-58 in a 4A Regional Semifinal at the Perry Sports Pavilion.  Perry led by 11 at the intermission but the Huskies kept chipping away before finally taking their first lead late in the third quarter.  The two teams went back and forth in the final stanza but Criswell proved to be too much at the foul line connecting on her final eight free throws while going 16-20 from the foul line on the night, including a clutch 12-14 in the second half.

The game featured three players who will go on to play college basketball next season.  Criswell led the Huskies with 36 points while Perry senior Claire Marburger pounded 34 points and point guard Maggie Lowe added 10.  Marburger, Perry’s all time leading scorer, tried to will the Jayettes back from a late 6 point deficit by scoring five straight points to pull Perry to within one at 56-55 with a minute to go.  Criswell hit two more free throws and a Taylor Lathrum shot bounced out allowing Criswell to seal the deal with two more free throws at the end.

Winterset will advance to the Regional Final Tuesday night against Indianola.