WESTPHALIA, Mo. - Fatima wasn't quite at full strength Friday night, forcing the Comets to adjust their game plan.
With seniors Sam Groner and Ben Robertson unavailable because of injury, Comets coach Ryan Robertson did what he thought would give them the best chance to win: play keep-away.
"We've been struggling lately and our shot selection has not been good, so we did it for a couple reasons," Robertson said following a 40-31 loss to Blair Oaks. "No. 1, Blair Oaks is really, really good. No. 2, we've got a couple starters out.
"We felt we're going to have to spread them out and kind of attack in a different style. If the layup is there we're going to take it, but we felt like we had to shorten the game to compete and I'm very proud of our kids for following the game plan."
The slow-paced strategy did keep the ball out of Blair Oaks' possession, but Fatima couldn't capitalize.
The Comets failed to score until about 1:30 into the second quarter. By then, the Falcons had put seven points on the board.
Justin Cobb was able to get open down low for two buckets in the first 3:30 of play and made the free throw following the foul on the first layup. Cobb scored all five of his points in that span.
"It's pretty important to get good possessions and it was really big for us to get the lead right away," Blair Oaks coach Tim Fick said. "It gave our guys a little confidence."
By halftime, Blair Oaks led 19-7. A combination of missed shots and turnovers for Fatima, and good shooting for Blair Oaks allowed the Falcons to beat the strategy.
The Falcons made 6-of-13 shots in the first half compared to 2-of-10 for Fatima.
"You can't control the ball going into the hoop," Robertson said. "I was so proud of the way they executed. If we make some layups and some free throws there, who knows? But that's out of our control."
A few third-quarter 3-pointers kept the Comets in the game.
Brett Werner, who scored a game-high 13 points for Fatima, knocked down a long-range shot with 4:29 left in the third quarter. It was the first field goal attempt of the second half.
Werner added a second 3 with 2:48 on the clock and Tim Brunnert, who scored 12 points, hit a 3 with :37 left to make it 28-18 heading into the fourth quarter.
The pace picked up a bit in the fourth quarter, and Blair Oaks used that to its advantage.
Eric Northweather, who had eight points, scored the first four points of the final quarter to give the Falcons a 14-point lead.
Missed free throws helped Fatima get within six with 1:24 left, but Trent Martin went 4-of-4 from the line the rest of the way to seal it. Martin led Blair Oaks with 10 points.
Ethan Luebbering, a 5-foot-9 guard, led the Falcons with four rebounds.
"He's going to get in there and grind," Fick said. "We've got him in for defense and he kind of cherishes that role and wants to go in and contribute on the defensive end."
Fatima (3-5) will compete in its first tournament of the season starting Wednesday. The Comets will face Newburg at 11:30 a.m. in the first round of the Linn Invitational.
"This team has been going through a lot of adversity," Robertson said. " We'll keep moving forward and we got better tonight."
Blair Oaks (7-2) is off until Dec. 30 when it takes on California in the first round of the Tri-County Conference Tournament. The game will tip off at 4 p.m. at School of the Osage.
"I like where we're at," Fick said. "We've been in a lot of close games where we've learned a lot about situational basketball."
In Friday's JV game, Blair Oaks defeated Fatima 52-28 to improve to 7-1.
David Dell led the Falcons with 11 points, while Cameron Hardwick finished with 10 points.
Blair Oaks won the freshman game 54-21.
Dawson Temmen led the Falcons with 11 points, while Shane Verslues had nine for Fatima.