Eels edge Cardinals 50-49

After Higgins' two freebies put the Eels (2-1, 2-0 in the SWIAC) up 50-47, the Cardinals missed a shot and Higgins rebounded the ball but fell out of bounds with the rebound, giving possession back to Bloomfield

After the last time-out by the Cardinals with 1.4 seconds to play and needing a 3-pointer to tie, Bryce Lindsey took an in-bounds pass from Holden Hamm and tossed in a two-point at the buzzer to account for the final score.

Bloomfield, who fell to 2-3 overall and in the SWIAC, pushed a 23-17 lead at the half to 29-20 early in the third quarter. But Andy Cochrane, who led the Cards with 19 points including nine in the fourth quarter, went to the bench with his third foul.

This opened the door for the Eels and D.J. Newton, who hit two 3-pointers and scored all but two points of a 12-0 Clay City outburst that left the Eels ahead 32-29. Newton tied Higgins for team-high honors with 17 points, all in the second half.

"I think we relaxed a little bit," said Bloomfield Coach John Bucher. "That is something you can never do against a team that plays hard."

Clay City then scored six of the next 11 points as it took a 38-34 cushion to the fourth quarter.

Bloomfield, who led throughout much of the first half, took a 45-43 lead after a basket by Cochrane with 3 1/2 minutes remaining.

Cochrane scored again a minute later to give the Cardinals a 47-45 edge. It turned out to be their last lead.

Clay City's Tyler Bridgewater hit two free throws to tie the issue at 47 for the Eels, who scored their last five points from the foul line. They went ahead 48-47 when Tyler Jenkins made the second half of a double-bonus opportunity at the foul line.

"They wanted the ball game more than we did," said Bucher. "Ultimately that was what cost us the ball game.

"We have the ball with a little over a minute to go and we are shooting the bonus. We made some poor decisions that cost us. The Clay City kids outhustled us tonight. We are not good enough to make mistakes like that and win. The bad part was they are as inexperienced as we are. But we don't have any time to hang our heads."

Hamm added 13 points, including 8 of 9 shooting at the foul line.

The Cardinals won the junior varsity game 46-35. Curtis Hasler paced Bloomfield with 19 points.

BHS will play at Edgewood tonight.

BLOOMFIELD (49) -- Holden Hamm 2 8-9 13, Ryan O'Neall 2 0-0 4, Bryce Lindsey 3 0-0 6, Andy Cochrane 8 2-3 19, Drake Vandeventer 1 2-2 5, Cory Slaven 1 0-0 2, Payton Karl 0 0-1 0. Totals 17 12-15 49.

CLAY CITY (50) -- D.J. Newton 3 3 2-3 17, Ben Denker 3 0-0 6

Tyler Jenkins 1 1-2 3, Logan Higgins 6 4-5 17, Tiefel 0 0-0 0, Tyler Bridgewater 2 3-4 7, Moore 0 0-0 0, Decker 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 10-14 50.

Bloomfield 14 9 11 15 -- 49

Clay City 11 6 21 12 -- 50

3-pointers -- Bloomfield 3 (Hamm, Cochrane, Vandeventer), Clay City 4 (Newton 3, Higgins). Fouls -- Bloomfield 13, Clay City 15. Fouled out -- None. Turnovers -- Bloomfield 10, Clay City 10.