By. Brian Heskin

MHA Times Editor

Photos by Brian Heskin

 The White Shield Warriors fought tooth and nail during their Region Qualifier matchup against the Washburn Cardinals last week, but were unable to seal the deal as the Warriors lost to the Cardinals 82-75.

After the Cardinals were able to tie the score 10-10 half way through the first quarter, the Warriors were able to capitalize on a couple Cardinal turnovers. White Shield was able to quickly extend the lead 17-10 with two minutes remaining in the first quarter. Washburn was able to close the gap to 17-15 by the time the buzzer went off signaling the end of the first quarter.

In the second quarter, the Cardinals maintained a five to six point lead as the Warriors couldn’t quite get the ball to fall the right way. As the final minutes of the second quarter clicked down, Warrior Forward Oscar Felix was finally able to get some shots to drop from the post. The Cardinals quickly canceled out the Warriors’ momentum as they answered back with consecutive three-point shots.

The third quarter kicked off with a Cardinals lead of 33-28 and then growing their command 57-44 by the end of the third. 

            After trailing the Cardinals by 13 points to begin the fourth quarter, the Warriors were able to rally and shrink the deficit to five points with four minutes remaining. This would be the closest the Warriors would be able to get before time expired as the Cardinals hit a few critical three-pointers to extend their lead 82-75 as time expired.

Results from other final round games included Garrison beating out Wilton-Wing 71-69 for the District Championship. Central McLean ousted New Salem-Almont 65-5 to receive the other Regional Qualifying spot.

In the second round, Central McLean defeated Mandaree 67-36 in the first loser out game and White Shield was able to come out with a win against Center-Stanton 59-47. In the semifinals, Garrison beat out Washburn 65-52 and Wilton-Wing defeated New Salem-Almont 63-55.