The No. 4 seeded Packers didn’t do what they wanted to do on their final possession against Byron, but they did exactly what they needed to.

After No. 5 Bryon (12-13 overall) turned the ball over on a five-second count with 6.8 seconds left in the game, Austin junior Shayley Vesel fired an in-bounds pass to Ruth Koang in the paint and Vesel ran out to the baseline, where Koang hit her with a pin-point pass. Vesel’s baseline 3-pointer hit the rim four times before finding the bottom of the net to give the Packers a 40-37 win over Byron in the Section 1AAA girls basketball quarterfinals in Ove Berven Gym Wednesday.

Bryon missed a half-courter as time expired to seal Austin’s win.

Austin’s final play was designed to go from Vesel to Murphy, but it ended up going through Koang, who showed awareness and made the right pass.

“It didn’t go how we expected it to, but we go the shot. There was no plan to give it to Ruth,” Vesel, who had 14 points and five rebounds, said. “They were double teaming Ruth a lot. We did whatever we could to get open.”

Austin (13-14 overall) trailed 34-31 with 3:01 left in the game. Sydney Murphy got free for a lay-up to make it 34-33 with 1:35 left and Vesel scored off of Austin’s fourth offensive rebound on a single possession to put the Packers up 35-34 with 43.3 seconds left.

With Bryon scrambling, Austin sophomore Rebecca Younis made a steal and hit two free throws to put her team up 37-34 with 18 seconds left.

“For a kid who hasn’t played a lot of minutes this year, Rebecca stepped up huge,” Johnson said.

Byron tied up the game when Mackenzie Damerow drilled a wing 3-pointer with 14 seconds left and the Bears forced an Austin turnover before they committed the crucial five-second violation.

Johnson said he had plenty of trust in Vesel, even if they play didn’t go as it was drawn up.

“Coaches don’t mind as long as it works out,” he said. “Shayley’s the kid that wants the ball in her hands and she wants to make something happen. She can shoot and she can drive.”

The game was a tight contest throughout as neither team lead by more than six points. Byron’s biggest lead was 6-0 and Austin led by three multiple times. The battle up front between Bryon freshman Ayoka Lee, who is 6-5, and Koang, who is 6-3, was won by Austin’s Koang as the sophomore scored 12 points and grabbed 19 rebounds.

“I had to get in front of her. It was a lot of fun and she did a great job too,” Koang said.

Johnson was pleased with the effort Koang gave up front.

“Ruth was pretty exhausted and she played a hard game,” he said. “[Lee] is a big kid and a good basketball player. I thought Ruth did a pretty good job to make sure that kid didn’t dominate in the paint. Ruth battled and I couldn’t ask more from her.”

Austin will play No. 1 Kasson-Mantorville in the Section 1AAA semifinals in Mayo Civic Center in Rochester 1 p.m. Saturday. Austin lost to KM 87-66 Dec. 13.

Byron 18 19 — 37

Austin 21 19 — 40

Austin scoring: Shayley Vesel, 14; Ruth Koang, 12; Sydney Murphy, 5; Kelsey Sederquest, 3; Awenia Nywesh, 2; Amber Hansen, 2; Rebecca Younis, 2; free throws: 25 percent (1-for-4); rebounds: 43 (Koang, 19); turnovers: 18