Boone Central and Battle Creek to face off in C1-8 Sub-District Final
ALBION - The Class C1-8 Sub-District semifinal matchups on Tuesday night were anything but boring.
First overall seed Boone Central survived a battle with fourth seeded Ord, while second seeded O'Neill and third seeded Battle Creek traded punches back in forth until the Braves landed the final blow.
With the wins, the Cardinals and Braves are set for their second matchup of the season, but with much more at stake with the season on the line.
Recapping the first game of the night, the #4 Ord Chanticleers jumped on #1 Boone Central early, leading by as many as seven points early in the game.
While the Cardinals did fight back, neither team had a clear advantage in the first half as the game was tied at 20-20 at halftime.
Boone Central got off to a quick start early in the third quarter and Ord was never able to overcome the deficit.
Boone Central would go on to win 51-37 to survive a brief scare and prepare for the Sub-District title game on Thursday.
Ben Reilly scored 12 points for the Cardinals, followed by 10 from Parker Borer.
Ord was led by Blake Hinrichs, who gave it his all to keep the season alive after a 17 points outing. Talan Bruha also scored 10 for the Chanticleers.
In the second game of the evening, #2 O'Neill, coming off a loss on Friday to Battle Creek, looked to rally back and try to beat them just four days later in tournament play.
The Braves scored the first bucket of the game, but it was the Eagles that jumped ahead and held leads at the end of the first quarter and halftime, up 29-23.
O'Neill's lead began to slip away after the Jaxon Kilmurry and Blake Borchers duo started to catch fire.
The teams traded leads heading into the fourth quarter.
Turner Heiss and Drew Morrow hit a few big shots late in the game, but in a tied game, Battle Creek took the ball after an offensive foul. Kilmurry had a look right under the rim and scored to give the Braves a 53-51 lead over the Eagles with 4.1 seconds remaining.
O'Neill's Drew Morrow had a chance to win the game with a three, but his shot banked off the glass and fell off the rim.
Jaxon Kilmurry led the Braves with 25 points, while Blake Borchers had a massive 15 point, 21 rebound game as his double-double was the difference in second chance points for Battle Creek.
Turner Heiss stepped up in a big way, scoring 14 points, while Drew Morrow finished with 12.
With the Boone Central victory over Ord and the Battle Creek victory against O'Neill, it sets the two teams up in a "Win or Go Home" Sub-District semifinal.
The Braves and the Cardinals played earlier this season, with Boone Central coming back from being down nearly the entire game and beating Battle Creek by three points.
The Sub-District final between #1 Boone Central and #3 Battle Creek will be played on Thursday in Albion, NE at 7 PM.