Every day in practice the Austin girls basketball team goes through a situational drill. Players will shoot a lay-up, a three-pointer and a half courter.

That drill paid big dividends for the Austin girls basketball team when junior Abby Lewis connected on a game-winning half court shot with .8 seconds left to beat Northfield 51-48 in Ove Berven Gym Tuesday.

The game was tied at 48-48 with 48 seconds when each team committed a turnover. Austin was able to get a stop on Northfield with eight seconds left and Lewis rushed down the court to throw up the game-winning heave.

“I saw the clock counting down the seconds and I knew I had to get a shot off in order for us to win, or we were going to OT,” Lewis said. “I wasn’t thinking for sure it was going to go in, but I was really happy when it did. The whole game everybody was playing together and we really came together. It was a really fun game.”

Lewis may have been able to get a little closer to the hoop as there was time left when she released the shot, but Austin head coach Anna Meyer said she had no complaints.

“We’ll take it. I was wondering if I should call a timeout or not, but we’ll take that shot anytime if it’s going to go in,” Meyer said. “It wasn’t exactly the look we were thinking of, but I wouldn’t question her judgement. That was a great shot.”

Austin (10-12 overall, 9-10 Big Nine) had lost to Northfield (18-5 overall, 15-4 Big Nine) on a buzzer-beater earlier in the season and the Packers were glad to turn the tables this time around. Austin had trailed 37-26 with 12:40 left in the game and it was still down 47-39 with 4:40 left.

The Packers were able to finish the game on a 12-1 run that saw Lewis, who had 19 points and five rebounds, hit two three-pointers. Elyse Hebrink put Austin up 48-47 on a lay-up on an assist from Lewis with 1:25 left in the game and Northfield tied it up at 48 with a free throw with 1:06 left.

Austin forced 20 Raider turnovers in the win and two of those turnovers came in the final minute.

“We knew what we were capable of and we came and showed them,” Hebrink, who had seven points, said. “If you get in their face, you can shut them down and we came in focusing on shutting down their main players.”

Lewis, a sophomore, Hebrink, an eighth grader, and KieJuana VanZant, a sophomore who had four points, six rebounds and four steals, all stepped up down the stretch for Austin.

“They’re young, but they don’t play young,” Meyer said. “Elyse has a way of always finding Abby on the perimeter and they’re a great duo. I think they play well together. Kiwi was huge for us tonight. She got lots of steals and deflections. She was sick all last week and this was the Kiwi we’ve been waiting to see all year.”

As for that half court shot drill in practice, it has certainly paid off for the Packers this season. Colie Justice made a half-courter earlier in the season to force OT in a loss to Mankato East, and Lewis has now given the Packers a win with a half-courter.

“Everybody thinks it’s dumb, but it’s worked out for us twice,” Hebrink said of the drill.

Northfield 26  22  —  48 

Austin 20  31  —  51

Austin scoring: Abby Lewis, 19; Elyse Hebrink, 7; Colie Justice, 6; Awenia Nywesh, 4; Amber Hansen, 4; KieJuana VanZant, 4; free throws: 55 percent (6-for-11); rebounds: 30 (Nywesh, 10); turnovers: 14