WATERTOWN — The Huron Tigers had an uncharacteristically cold night from the free throw line Friday, as the Watertown Arrows avenged an earlier loss this season with a 33-27 win in ESD Conference girls’ basketball at the Watertown Civic Arena.

“We brought the defense with us tonight, but just didn’t get enough shots to fall,” said Huron coach Kody Kopfmann following the game. “That’s the game in a nutshell.”

Neither team could find the range to open the game. The Tigers led 5-0 after the first four minutes, on a pair of free throws and a corner three point field goal from Hamtyn Heinz. Neely Johnson got the Arrows on the board with a three of her own and Malia Kranz tied the game with a deuce in the paint at the 2:40 mark. A Hylton Heinz basket in the lane gave Huron a 7-5 lead after the first quarter.

Watertown took its first lead of the game one minute into the second quarter as Jade Lund dropped in a three.

Miranda Falconer hit one of two from the line and after a traditional three point play from Avery Munger, the Arrows led 12-7. Munger’s bucket came on a third chance, as Huron was unable to keep the home team off the board.

A deuce from Emery Thury gave Watertown a 14-7 lead as the clock rolled past the 1:30 mark of the half.

But that seemed to wake up the Tigers, as Hamtyn Heinz hit two free throws, at the 1:19 mark, to break the Tiger drought. Hylton Heinz got a banked three pointer off a second chance rebound with 22 seconds to play, and after forcing a bad shot by the Arrows, Hamtyn Heinz took the rebound, headed up court and heaved the ball from half-court, banking in another three pointer and sending the Tigers to the halftime break with a 15-14 lead, on an 8-0 run over the final 1:19 of the half.

The third quarter played out much as the second period.

Neither team scored for more than two minutes of play, until Falconer hit a three from the right wing to put the Arrows back into the lead. Hamtyn Heinz answered with a three for the Tigers second later, but then Watertown went on a mini 6-0 run, with two baskets from Emery Thury and another basket by Munger to tkae a 23-18 lead as the clock rolled past three minutes.

But just as they did in the second quarter, the Tigers rallied.

Kenzie Siemonsma got a layup on a nice feed from Hamtyn Heinz, then Lizzy Heinen scored inside seconds later.

When Hylton Heinz got a short jumper to go with a minute to play, it put Huron back on top, 24-23, and only a late free throw from Kynsee Russell sent the teams to the final stanza knotted at 24-all.

Which is where the cold shooting came to the forefront for the Tigers. Siemonsma hit one of two from the line at the 6:11 mark to give Huron back the lead, but Falconer swung the momentum pendulum back to the Arrows with a three.

Heinen was whistled for her fifth foul at the 3:54 mark of the game, after a long delay caused by a scoreboard problem, then a moment later, Alison Janes hit a pull-up jumper that would have tied the contest, but was whistled for a charging foul.

Lund hit from distance at the 1:45 mark and while Davis hit a bucket seconds later, Huron would end the fourth quarter hitting one of eight from the line, with one field goal, for a total of three points in the period. Watertown wasn’t lighting it up by any means, but their two three pointers and two free throws in the closing seconds proved to be all the points they needed to secure the win.

The Arrows, who improve to 6-12 with their third win in a row, were led by Lund and Falconer with eight points each, while Thury had 10 rebounds and five assists in the contest. Watertown turned the ball over 16 times.

Hamtyn Heinz led all scorers with 13 points, 10 in the first half, and Heinen hauled down a game-high 11 boards for Huron. The Tigers committed 15 turnovers.

“I don’t know if we were a bit tired after playing last night, but when you only hit 9 of 51 field goal attempts it is tough to put enough points up to win,” Kopfmann noted. As a team, Huron, which normally shoots free throws at a 75% clip, was 5 of 15 from the free throw line. Watertown was slightly warmer from the field, hitting 11 of 42, and ended 6/11 from the charity stripe.

Huron, now 7-11, will look to regroup this week, as they host the top-ranked and undefeated O’Gorman Knights on

Tuesday at Huron Arena, as they seek to close the season strong and find a good SoDak 16 matchup.

The tip Tuesday night is set for 6 p.m.

Huron         7 15 24 27
Watertown         5 14 24 33

HURON (7-11): Aly Davis 1 0-1 2; Lizzy Heinen 1 0-2 2; Kenzie Siemonsma 1 1-2 3; Hylton Heinz 3 0-4 7; Hamtyn Heinz 3 4-6 13. Totals: 9 5-15 27.

WATERTOWN (6-12): Emery Thury 3 0-0 6; Jade Lund 2 2-2 8; Avery Munger 2 1-1 5; Miranda Falconer 2 2-4 8; Neely Johnson 1 0-0 3; Kynsee Russell 0 1-2 1; Malie Kranz 1 0-0 2. Totals: 11 6-11 33.

FG: H - 9-51, 18%; W - 11-42 26%. 3-pt Fg: H - 4-20 (Hamtyn Heinz 3, Hylton Heinz 1); W - 5-23 (Lund 2, Falconer 2, Johnson). REB: H - 35 (Heinen 11); W - 38 (Thury 10). TO: H - 15, W - 16. Assists: H - 5; W - 10. Fouls: H - 16 (Heinen out); W - 11.