STROMSBURG – North Bend Central lost 45-44 to St. Paul in the boys C1-4 district basketball championship at Cross County High School Tuesday night, in a game aired on 107.9 The Bull.
St. Paul raced out to a 14-0 lead, and led 19-5 after the first quarter.
NBC recovered by scoring 16 points in the second quarter, and was able to cut the score to 29-21 at halftime.
The Tigers had a solid third quarter as well, scoring 12 points, and after three quarters, NBC trailed just 37-34.
The Tigers came back to tie the game at 42-42, before St. Paul converted a three point play to go up 45-42 with less than 30 seconds left.
Austin Endorf scored a late bucket to make it 45-4.
NBC was forced to foul in order to stop the clock, but the Tigers caught a break when St. Paul missed consecutive free throws, giving NBC the opportunity for a winning shot.
The Tigers had to go the full length of the court with just over four seconds to play. St. Paul came out in full court pressure defensively.
NBC was able to get down the floor in a time, but the winning shot missed from the right corner, preserving the 45-44 win for St. Paul. The Wildcats were able to avenge a 72-55 loss the NBC from earlier in the season.
Jaxon Wietfeld had 16 points for NBC, with Endorf adding 9 and Brodey Johnson scoring 8.
The Tigers end their season at 23-3 overall.
