Century girls basketball coach Ron Metz said his team spends a great deal of time each day in practice working on its free-throw shooting.

All of that time spent paid off for the Patriots in the West Region tournament.

On Saturday, Century made eight of 10 free throws in the final 1:45 to secure a 57-55 win over the three-time defending champion Mandan Braves in the region title game played at the Bismarck Civic Center.

The Patriots (17-5) finished 24-for-30 at the line, one day after going 31-for-39 - 22-for-26 in the second half - in a 66-56 semifinal win over Jamestown.

"We put a big emphasis on free-throw shooting. It's one of those things that definitely decides games," Metz said. "We kind of struggled with our free throws last year, but it's different this year. The girls are a lot more confident in themselves. They're knocking down big shots at critical times."

Like in the final stages of Saturday's contest.

Two Madi Buck free throws with 1:45 left put the Patriots up 51-48. After a basket by Mandan's Ali Collins, Century's Alexis Jacobs went 2-for-2 from the charity stripe with 1:18 left to make it 53-50.

Mandan missed two free throws at the :56.3 mark, and 3.1 seconds later, Erika Jossart made one of two charity tosses to give the Patriots a 54-50 lead.

After Mandan missed a hurried 25-footer that barely beat the shot clock, Carli Peterson made a free throw with 23.5 seconds to play to make it a five-point game.

Collins scored with 8.6 seconds left, but Century answered 1.4 seconds later with two Jossart free throws.

A 3-pointer by Mandan's Brittaney Zander just before the final buzzer sounded cut the margin to two points.

Jossart, a 5-foot-7 junior who finished with 10 points, said the Patriots were determined to become a better free-throw shooting team this season.

"Last year, we had to run extra in practice every time we shot under 65 percent in a game. We did a lot of running," she said. "That's a big part of basketball. Mandan's real aggressive and chances are they're going to put you on the line a lot. You have to take advantage of that."

Century claimed its first region title since 2005, and its first under Metz, who is in his second year as head coach.

"This is a big day for the girls … to win this tournament and to beat a very good team in Mandan," Metz said. "You set goals at the start of the year, and one of ours was getting to the state tournament. We achieved that goal with our win last night. Winning tonight is an added bonus, and provides more motivation for the girls."

Century overcame a nine-point deficit in the first half, and a five-pointer in the second to defeat Mandan for the second time in three meetings this season. The Patriots trailed 20-11 with 7:45 left in the first half, but carried a 30-28 lead into the break. Hannah Jeske provided the go-ahead points with a trey from the top of the key.

Later, Mandan's Brittni Winkler scored in close with 12:03 left in the second half to cap off an 11-4 run and give the Braves a 39-34 lead. However, Century answered with a 9-2 run that Buck finished off with a basket with 7:18 left. From there, the Braves got within a point five times, but couldn't catch the Patriots.

"Give Century credit. Every time we got close, they found a way to answer," Mandan coach Greg Amundson said. "That's what good teams do. Our girls played hard. I'm very proud of them. But Century made the key plays down the stretch."

It didn't help that Collins, an all-stater, missed almost half of the game because of foul trouble. She sat out almost 12 minutes in the first half, and almost seven in the second. Collins didn't foul out, but starting center Breanna Levi did.

"We play aggressive, and when you play aggressive there's a chance you're going to pick up lots of fouls," Amundson said. "It hurt us not having Ali or Breanna in there for long stretches of time, but we still had a chance to win the game. We lost by two. Another break our way and the outcome might have been different."

Metz said Mandan's pressure defense was his team's biggest concern going in. Despite 23 turnovers, Metz felt the Patriots handled it well.

"We knew they were going to come after us, and they did," the Century coach said. "We had some turnovers, but we didn't let them take control with that pressure like we've seen them do so many times. The girls kept their composure and played through it."

Buck led the Patriots with 15 points, nine rebounds, and five assists. Peterson added eight points, eight boards and five steals.

Zander and Collins had 17 and 12 points to lead the Braves, who fell to 13-9.

MANDAN (55): Mic Longtin 0-0 0-0 0, Amber Riopelle 0-0 0-0 0, Anna Helmers 3-7 1-3 7, Ali Collins 5-7 2-2 12, Steph Pedersen 2-8 3-6 8, Breanna Levi 1-4 0-0 2, Brooke Sandau 0-1 0-0 0, Brittaney Zander 7-13 1-1 17, Elizabeth Meyer 0-1 0-0 0, Emily Helmers 2-7 2-3 7, Brittni Winkler 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 21-51 9-15 55.

CENTURY (57): Nikki Huelsman 1-3 0-0 2, Molly Vanderpan 1-4 0-0 3, Erika Jossart 2-5 5-6 10, Carli Peterson 3-6 2-3 8, Madi Buck 3-9 9-10 15, Alexis Jacobs 0-3 4-6 4, Hannah Jeske 1-1 3-4 6, Tricia Sorensen 3-10 0-0 6, Kelli Richard 1-3 1-1 3. Totals 15-44 24-30 57.

Halftime: Century 30, Mandan 24.

3-pointers: M 4 (Zander 2, Pedersen 1, E. Helmers 1), C 3 (Jossart 1, Jeske 1, Vanderpan 1). Rebounds: M 31 (Collins 8), C 33 (Buck 9). Assists: M 13 (Collins 4), C 10 (Buck 5). Steals: M 12 (Zander 3), C 15 (Peterson 5). Turnovers: M 25, C 23. Fouls: M 24, C 16. Fouled out: M, Levi.

Records: Mandan 13-9, Century 17-5.

Awards

All-tournament

Madi Buck and Carli Peterson, Century. Ali Collins and Steph Pedersen, Mandan. Sarah Feeney and Kelsey Sigl, Bismarck. Morgan Dale and Amber Ramlo, Jamestown. Sasha Golus, Turtle Mountain. Jess Herauf, Dickinson.

Senior athlete of the year: Morgan Dale, Jamestown.

Coach of the year: D.J. McGillis, Turtle Mountain.