HURON — The Huron Tigers dug themselves out of a 16-point deficit and took a fourth-quarter lead, but a late steal and lay up and two free throws added up to a 47-43 loss to the Watertown Arrows Tuesday night at Huron Arena.

Watertown came in to the game losing its last three games, while Huron entered on a three-game winning streak. The win pushes the Arrows to a season record of 7-4, while the Tigers fall to 7-5 with the loss.

“Getting back into it and taking a lead is great - the girls really fought hard,” observed Tiger coach Tim Buddenhagen, “although we should never have been in that situation.” Buddenhagen noted that for the second straight game, Huron struggled at the free throw line, as the Tigers ended 7/17 at the charity stripe.

Early on, it looked as if Watertown was intent upon leaving no doubt that their two-point win over Huron earlier this season was no fluke.

A free throw from Alexis Feenstra and a three-point field goal by Hamtyn Heinz staked Huron to an early 4-2 lead with two-and-a-half minutes gone off the clock. But that would be it for the Huron scoring until Heavan Gainey scored on a put-back with only 16 seconds remaining in the period. Meanwhile, Watertown was able to solve the Huron half-court press and turned mismatches and open shots into points. Three pointers from Emery Thury and Maddy Rohde sent Watertown into the quarter break with a 13-6 lead.

Huron got a brief rally to open the second quarter. After a Kayla Vohlken three pushed the lead to 10 points, Heinz hit the front of a two-shot free throw opportunity, but Feenstra came out with the rebound on the missed shot and found Bella Shreeve in rhythm and Shreeve buried the three pointer to cut the lead back to six.

Kendall Paulson made a short jumper for the Arrows, but Heinz hit two charity tosses and Isabelle Ellwein hit a three and the lead was down to three points, at 18-15. But the rally ended there, as Jade Lund hit a pair of threes off the Watertown bench, Jaida Young hit a field goal, then two free throws and Lund got loose for a layup.

Cold shooting and defensive lapses put the Tigers into a first half hole. As a team, the Tigers made two field goals in both the first and the second quarters, and shot a cool 5-11 from the free throw line, as Huron trailed 30-16 at the halftime break as the Arrows closed on a 9-1 run.

“We just didn’t execute on offense as a team tonight,” Buddenhagen said. “We had a couple of girls standing and watching instead of cutting to the basket in the first half.”

A Feenstra lay up was countered by a long three from Rohde and then Paulson hit one of two from the line with five and a half to play, as Shreeve was whistled for her fourth personal foul and spent most of the rest of the quarter on the Tiger bench.

A basket from Grace Ortmeier pushed the lead to 16, at 46-30, before Huron began to claw their way back into contention. Heinz scored on a put back, Reese Rozell, stepping in to replace Shreeve, drained a corner three and then got runner to fall as the Tigers to it down to 11, at 38-27.

Young missed a pair of free throws, and Ellwein made them pay with a free throw with 15 seconds in the quarter and the Tigers jumped into their trap, forcing a turnover. With the ball and three seconds on the clock, Buddenhagen sent his shooters into the game and Shreeve came off the bench to hit a three a the buzzer that cut the margin to seven points, at 38-31 headed to the fourth quarter.

The lead was shaved to a single point, as first Heinz, then Shreeve hit threes in the first two-and-a-half minutes of the fourth quarter. Young got loose on the baseline for a teardrop, but Heinz hit another three that tied it a 40-40 with four minutes to play.

Watertown committed a turnover, leading to a Shreeve lay up that gave Huron its first lead since early in the first quarter. A free throw by Ellwein put Huron up 43-40 with two minutes to play, but Young got an offensive rebound and put it back to cut the lead to one, then hit one-of-two on the next Watertown possession to tie the game with 18 second left.

Out of the Watertown timeout, Rohde stepped in front of the inbounds pass in stride beneath the basket and gave the lead back to the Arrows and two free throws with one second left gave Watertown their final 47-43 margin.

“We did better on offense in the second half when we got some momentum and forced some turnovers,” Buddenhagen said. “But for the second straight game we didn’t shoot free throws as we are capable of doing.”

The Arrows got 12 points from Young as she was the lone Watertown player in double figures. Rohde claimed a game-high eight rebounds.

The Tigers got 14 points from Heinz, while Shreeve added 11. Ellwein was credited with six rebounds to lead Huron on the boards.

Huron travels to Sioux Falls Roosevelt on Feb. 1.

Watertown         13 30 38 47
Huron           6 16 31 43

Watertown (6-4): Maddy Rohde 3 0-0 8; Kayla Vohlken 2 0-0 5; Jaida Young 3 6-10 12; Kendall Paulson 3 3-4 9; Emery Thury 1 0-0 3; Jade Lund 3 0-0 8; Grace Ortmeier 1 0-0 2. Totals: 16 9-14 47.

Huron (7-4): Bella Shreeve 4 0-0 11; Reese Rozell 2 0-2 5; Hamtyn Heinz 4 3-4 14; Heavan Gainey 2 1-4 5; Adison Moore 0 0-1 0; Alexis Feenstra 1 1-2 3; Isabelle Ellwein 1 2-4 5. Totals: 14 8-18 43.

FG: W - 16-45 36%; H - 14-43 33%. 3-pt FG: W - 6-23 26% (Rohde 2, Lund 2, Vohlken and Thury); H - 8-18 44% (Shreeve 3, Heinz 3, Rozell and Ellwein). Rebounds: W - 31 (Rohde 8); H - 31 (Ellwein 6). Turnovers: W - 17; H - 13. Fouls: W - 17; H - 15 (Shreeve out).