The Blair Oaks Falcons didn't play their best basketball during several stretches Saturday. But a stellar start and solid finish made up for that as they held off St. Michael the Archangel 76-71 in the Central Bank Shootout at Rackers Fieldhouse.
The Falcons got their lead to 10 early in the fourth quarter before the Guardians battled back.
A steal and layup by Anthony Holden cut it to five and a steal and layup for Isaiah Smith made it 60-57 with 5:03 remaining.
Blair Oaks coach Ryan Fick wasn't too concerned.
"A team with seven seniors, sometimes you've just got to let them play through it and figure things out," he said. "I felt they did a pretty good job."
Dru Rackers, a senior, scored six points of a 10-1 run to put the lead back to 10 with 2:14 left.
"Our shot selection wasn't very good at times today, but at times it was very, very good," Fick said. "Then down the stretch we were able to break their pressure and Dru got some layups."
Blair Oaks got the lead up to 11 twice before the Guardians scored the game's final five points.
"It was a good game for us to play," Fick said. "I'm glad that we played a team that got up into us defensively and made us handle some pressure because down the stretch we're going to have to do that."
Blair Oaks scored 18 of the game's first 20 points.
Eric Northweather got the first basket of the game on a layup and added a 3-pointer from the wing for an 11-0 lead.
Rackers followed with a layup before St. Michael got on the scoreboard three minutes into the contest.
But after the 18-2 start, the Guardians scored 11 straight and the lead was just 20-13 after the first quarter. Blair Oaks turned it over five times in the opening quarter.
"You could tell out of their timeout they really amped up their energy defensively and I don't think we handled it very well," Fick said. "It took us a while to get up to that speed."
St. Michael pulled to within one on a basket by Brandon Lane and had a chance to tie it with a free throw, but the three-point play wasn't converted and the Falcons again went on a run to lead 30-22 midway through the second quarter.
Ben Palacios, who scored a game-high 30 points, got the Guardians back within two on a layup with about a minute left in the half before a pair of Luke Northweather free throws and a free throw by Nolan Hair to make it 34-29 at halftime.
Luke Northweather converted a pair of three-point plays in the third quarter with the second increasing Blair Oaks' lead to 53-43. Northweather finished with eight points and three rebounds off the bench.
"Luke has been playing really, really well, not only in practice but in JV games," Fick said. "I wanted to give him an opportunity to get some varsity minutes and I was really pleased with how he played."
Eric Northweather, who tied Rackers for a team-high 18 points, finished off the third-quarter scoring with a two-handed slam for a 55-48 lead.
Eric Northweather also grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds and had three blocks.
Braydan Pritchett scored 13 points and Trent Martin added 11.
Blair Oaks (16-5) plays Tuesday at Eldon.