Lions Edge Circle, 52-51

In a semi-final round game that went down to the wire, Lustre’s boys’ basketball edged Circle, 52-51, at the District 3C tournament in Wolf Point on Thursday.

The Lions trailed by a 26-23 half-time margin, but a basket by Byron Ewing tied the game two minutes into the third quarter.

Circle reeled off the next eight points on a three-pointer by Owen Beery, a drive by Duke Williamson and a three-pointer by Xavier Nasner for a 36-28 advantage.

After Johnslee Pierre scored for the Lions, Circle’s Beery and Nasner tallied on drives to put the Wildcats ahead by a 10-point margin.

Consecutive three-pointers by Cam Reddig and Diek Olfert helped Lustre’s comeback bid. The Lions ended the quarter on a drive and three-point play by Prestyn Klatt for a 42-42 deadlock.

The game was even at 46--46 when Ewing accounted for a three-point play with 3:43 remaining. The Wildcats, however, struck back on a three-pointer by Kash Ereaux for a 49-49 game with 2:38 left.

A three-pointer by Klatt put the Lions back in the lead. Circle cut the gap to 5251 on a drive by Beery with 1:50 remaining.

The Wildcats had possession of the ball with 25 seconds, but Circle missed two shots including one that was blocked by Pierre.

After the Lions missed on two foul shots, Circle’s final attempt from half-court range was off.

Top scorers for Lustre were Klatt with 16 and Cam Reddig with 12 points. Pierre and Ewing added seven points each. Olfert added six and Clay Reddig had four points.

Leading the Wildcats were Nasner with 15, Beery with 14, Williamson with 12 and Ereaux with 10 points.