MANKATO — A lack of offense kept the Hayfield girls basketball team from advancing to the Section 2AA title game as the Vikings fell to top-seeded New Richland/H/E/G 36-33 in Brensan Arena on the Minnesota State campus Monday.

Hayfield guard Jordyn Krekling missed a pull-up, game-tying a three-pointer as time expired.

“If you’re gonna go out shooting, that’s the way to go down. With your best shooter taking a shot,” Hayfield head coach Fred Kindschy said.

The Panthers (27-1 overall) ended the game on an 12-2 run after the two-seeded Vikings (21-7 overall) had taken a 31-24 lead on a Molly Streightiff put-back with 5:13 left in the game.

NRHEG took the lead for good when freshman forward Anna Schlaak came up with a four-point possession. First Schlaak scored and was fouled when she put-back her own missed shot. Shlaak missed the free throw, but after the Panthers tracked down the rebound, Schlaak drew Hayfield center Kiley Severson’s fifth foul and hit both free throws in a one-and-one situation to make it 35-31 Panthers with 29.5 seconds left in the game.

The Panthers tied the game with 2:39 left when Alyssa Kerkhoff, who led all scorers with 15 points, drilled a three from the wing with Krekling right in her face.

“I even could feel it on my fingertips and it still went in,” Krekling said. “She’s a good player and I’ve played with her before. She’s good competition.”

The Vikings took their 31-24 lead by scoring seven straight. Streightiff scored twice and had a nice post feed to Severson, who converted a three-point play during the run.

“Molly’s a nice offensive player and when she looks to create offense that’s a welcomed spark,” Kindschy said.

But it was the lack of consistent offense that haunted the Vikings. Besides their slump at the end of the game, they also scored just four points in the last 12:39 of the first half after they opened the game with an 8-0 run.

“We got a lot of charges called against us and that kind of brought us down. Then we had some turnovers and a few missed shots,” said Krekling, who had five points and eight rebounds.

Hayfield trailed 12-10 at the break.

“Our defense kept us in there, but our offense didn’t pull through,” Kindschy said. “We just didn’t execute at times and it’s been that way all year. We’re always waiting for someone else to step up and do it and we just haven’t found a leader who wants to assume that role.”

For Krekling, next season cant come fast enough for the Vikings, who took fifth at state last season.

“Right now it sucks. We knew we could get them, but we just couldn’t pull it off,” she said. “I can’t wait to come here next year.”

The Vikings graduate just two players in seniors Megan Leckness and Brittney Dahlen. They will return their entire starting lineup next season.

“We’re young and hopefully this makes them a little more hungry. Because you’ll never know were you’ll be next year,” Kindschy said.

NRHEG will play Blue Earth with a trip to state on the line Friday at Mankato East High School at 8 p.m.

Hayfield 10 23 — 33

NRHEG 12 24 — 36

Hayfield scoring: Kiley Severson, 13; Kayla Garness, 11; Jordyn Krekling, 5; Molly Streightiff, 4; free throws: 50 percent (3-for-6); rebounds: 22 (Severson, 9; Krekling, 8); turnovers: 18

NRHEG scoring: Alyssa Kerkhoff, 15; Alyssa Hagen, 11; Anna Schlaak, 8; Jenna Brekke, 2; free throws; rebounds: 32 (Hagen, 9); turnovers: 15