VERSAILLES, Mo. - It's gotten to the point it's shocking if Blair Oaks and Southern Boone aren't playing each other in the Tri-County Conference Tournament championship game.
In four of the past five seasons, the Eagles have gotten the better of the Falcons in that game.
"They've always been like this," Blair Oaks coach Ryan Fick said. "They run their dribble-drive and their motion offense so well. Guys cut, they've got guys that can finish in the paint and they shoot the ball well enough that it keeps you off balance."
The Eagles' 3s gave them an early lead Saturday and kept them close when the Falcons would go on a run, but they didn't fall enough late and Blair Oaks made the game-changing plays to win 67-58.
The first energy boost came from Carsen Prenger, who came off the bench to grab back-to-back offensive rebounds and score on his second putback attempt. He added a free throw for a 50-42 lead with 1:09 left in the third quarter.
"That was a big bucket," Fick said. " He comes in, he guards and if we can get energy plays like that out of him, that's what we expect from him."
The Falcons led 51-44 before a Blake Dapkus second-chance basket and a Trenton Roney 3-pointer made it a two-point margin a minute into the fourth quarter.
That's as close as Southern Boone would get.
Luke Northweather drew a foul on a layup for a three-point play about two minutes later for a 56-49 lead and Eric Northweather slammed down a two-handed dunk following a Jake Closser steal for a 62-53 lead with 1:17 left.
"In games like this we've got to create offense off of our defense," Fick said.
The lead swapped nine times in a slower paced first half with Blair Oaks taking the lead for good when Quinn Kusgen pulled up for a mid-range jumper for a 20-19 advantage with 4:12 left in the second quarter.
Kusgen made five of his first six shots from inside the 3-point arc. He finished with 18 points and seven rebounds.
"He can go both ways with the ball and shoot the ball," Fick said. "Really kind of sneaky quick with his first step, and handles the ball well."
Blair Oaks led 28-22 a halftime.
"We talked about that the team that could take that energy level up a notch I thought would be the team that won," Fick said. "I thought we were able to play with more energy. They played with more energy as well, but I thought the game as a whole and the second half was just at a different level."
Southern Boone smothered Eric Northweather in the first 16 minutes, limiting him two two points thanks to double and triple teams inside the paint.
But the 6-foot-9 senior was still effective, sending a pass to Luke Northweather for an easy layup for the final points of the first half.
"He and his brother work well together," Fick said. "They complement each other."
Eric Northweather scored 23 of his game-high 25 points in the second half and finished with 11 rebounds. Luke Northweather added 10 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.
"I thought we had some high-low action where we were able to create some distance where we were getting the ball at the basket with Eric."
Closser made a pair of 3s on his way to 10 points for the Falcons.
Rece Gilmore knocked down his first five 3-pointers and scored 19 points to lead the Eagles, who made 8-of-22 from deep.
Dapkus added 13 points and Roney scored 10.
Blair Oaks (3-0) hosts Eugene on Tuesday. The JV game will start at 6 p.m. with the varsity to follow around 7:30 p.m.