GILLETTE - It took 84 minutes, but the Wyoming girls all-stars defeated South Dakota 87-82 in overtime on Monday night to win the first basketball game in the border war series.

Playing in Gillette, Wyoming held onto the lead through the first half, then saw South Dakota dominate through much of the second half.

But Wyoming surged in the closing minutes, tying the game at 74-74 with 59 seconds to go in regulation when Sheridan's Kelsey Boedeker sank two free throws.

A layup by Jennifer Schuttloffel of Souix Falls Roosevelt put South Dakota up with 34 seconds to go, but Wyoming's 6-foot-3 Hillary Carlson hit a

one-handed jumper in the closing seconds to force overtime.

It was all Wyoming from that point on. Boedeker, who finished with 13 points, added a free throw to put Wyoming on top and Josie Stewart of Glenrock drove the baseline for a jumper to put the Cowgirls up 79-76.

Carlson, who led Wyoming with 23 points, added two free throws at the 1:29 mark to put Wyoming up by five points.

Sierra Moeller of T.F. Riggs hit a jumper with 48 seconds to go and then hit a 3-pointer with 32 seconds to go to pull South Dakota within a point.

But Bri Barnette of Gillette hit three of four free throws in the waning seconds and then Carlson blocked a 3-pointer by Rapid City Central's Jami Morris to snuff out South Dakota's final opportunity. Carlson, named Miss Wyoming Basketball this past week, hit two free throws to put the game away.

Also scoring for Wyoming were Boedeker, with 13 points; Barnette, eight; Jenika Bird of Evanston, seven; and Kristi Dilts of Douglas, six.

South Dakota was led by Schuttleoffel with 23 points and Abby Plucker of Parker added 17. Moeller finished with 13 points and Sara Puthoff of West Central scored nine.

Boys game

Wyoming 95,

South Dakota 89

In what turned into a shoot-out featuring Wyoming's athleticism and South Dakota's Chase Walder, Wyoming pulled out a 95-89 victory on Monday night in Gillette in the boys all-star basketball game.

The series will continue tonight at the Black Hills State University's Young Center in Spearfish.

Walder, a graduate of Castlewood who averaged 32 points per game this past season, ignited South Dakot in a second-half comeback on Monday night. His seven 3-pointers tied the series record set by Josh Mueller of South Dakota in 2001 and he finished with 34 points, including 22 in the second half.

But it wasn't enough to stop Wyoming, led by the athletic and acrobatic

6-foot-8 James Johnson of Cheyenne Central, who is bound for Wake Forest next season, and 6-2 guard Arthur Steward of Casper Natrona.

They combined for 48 points to lead Wyoming (Steward with 25 and Johnson with 17), and also notched five dunks, slams or jams and some eye-popping plays above the rim for the Cowboy State, including at least three swats that landed well off the court and drew oohs and aahs from the fans.

Craig Wilk of Rock Springs added 17 points and Cain Atkinson of Evanston added 19 for Wyoming, which couldn't keep up with Walder in the 3-point arena. But Wyoming made up for it, after leading by just a point, 39-38 at halftime.

Wyoming pushed the pace in the second half, and Steward finally neutralized Walder to give the Cowboy State some breathing room down the stretch.

Also contributing to South Dakota were Sam Willard of T.F. Riggs, with 13 points; Jason DeZeeuw of Elkton, with 12; and Luke Enos of Faith, with 10.

South Dakota now leads the series 18-12.