SOUTH WHITLEY - For an eight-minute span, Fort Wayne North certainly looked dominant against Whitko Saturday. The Redskins opened the game by making 11 of 14 shots and had a 27-8 run that began with five minutes to play in the first quarter. That spurt gave North a 33-14 advantage with five minutes to play in the second quarter.

However, from that point on, Whitko controlled the game, chipping away at the lead. The Wildcats got as close as one point, but lost the game 58-57 with two missed free throws in the final five seconds.

Whitko's Jeremiah Laws and North's Vernard Hollins were both hot early in the game. Laws scored eight points in the first four minutes as Whitko stayed close. But Hollins had 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting in the first quarter, including a pair of three-pointers with less than one minute left in the opening period. His bombs came back to back after North had taken a 19-14 lead and began a string of 14 consecutive points for the Redskins.

Whitko began to cut into the 19-point deficit. After a Jered Deckena layup late in the second quarter, the Wildcats had closed to within 12 at 38-26 and had an opportunity to get to within 10 before the half. However, Whitko did not convert, and North made two free throws late to seemingly regain momentum and a 14-point lead at the break.

The Wildcats continued to cut into the lead in the third quarter and got to within 10 points with 4:15 to play at 42-32. That's when the three-point shooting took over. Chad Schipper scored three-pointers on the next two Whitko possessions, and Josh Gonzalez connected on the next one as the Wildcats made it 47-41 with 1:20 to play in the third. Bo Mullins assisted on all three treys.

But just as Whitko got back within range, North scored the final four points of the quarter to take an uncomfortable 10-point lead into the final eight minutes.

The Wildcats regained momentum with the first seven points of the fourth quarter to make it 51-48. After Kevin Miller scored with 2:45 to play, the Wildcats were within two points at 56-54. When Laws hit a jumper with 47 seconds to play, the score was 58-57 in favor of North.

Then the drama began.

The Redskins' Quincy Rutledge missed the front end of a one-and-one with 18 seconds to play. Gonzalez took the ball down the floor and missed a layup in traffic with less than 10 seconds to play. However, the ball bounced out of bounds with five seconds left off of North. Before the ball was inbounded, Rutledge fouled Gonzalez sending him to the line for a two-shot foul.

However, Gonzalez missed both free throws and North rebounded the second miss to hold on for the narrow win.

Although Hollins cooled off after the first quarter, he still scored 30 points. He was the only North player to score in double figures.

Laws led Whitko with 16 points and Gonzalez added 14. Miller came off the bench to score nine points and grab a game-high seven rebounds as the Wildcats outrebounded the Reskins 33-20.

Whitko (2-11) will host Wawasee on Friday. [[In-content Ad]]