Knights edge Elgin, 53-51

TAKING AIM: Ronny Church tries to shoot Tuesday over the outstretched arms of an Irrigon defender. Irrigon won by a 53-51 score. CASEY KELLAS / The Observer

ELGIN -- After falling to Irrigon by 20 points just four nights ago, it would have been easy for the Elgin boys basketball team to lay down in its rematch with the Knights Tuesday night.

But not this Husky team. Not this season. 

Elgin not only came to play, it came to win and keep its playoff hopes alive. But it came up short.

After a back and forth game that saw both teams go on runs, it was the Knights who came out on top, 53-51.

“There is a lot of disappointed kids in that locker room right now,” coach Casey Hallgarth said. “They wanted it bad. We just came up short.”

The Huskies overcame a 10-point deficit in the second quarter, closing on an 8-0 run to go into halftime down 23-21.

But in the third quarter Elgin looked like the more determined team, out hustling the Knights to take the lead. Only a three pointer at the buzzer by Irrigon’s Jose Romero tied the game at 35-35 heading to the fourth.

The game continued to go back and forth over the first couple minutes of the fourth before the Knights went on an 8-0 run to go up 45-39 with 4:20 left.

Elgin wouldn’t lay down easily, however, and the Huskies scrapped to cut it to 52-48 after a pair of Ronny Church free throws with 1:06 remaining.

That, followed by a steal by D.J. Lizotte and a three pointer by Blu Risseeuw with 41 seconds left, cut it to 52-51.

The Huskies then used a couple of fouls to get into the bonus before Irrigon hit one of two free throws to extend the lead to 53-51.

Elgin got the ball with six seconds left and after a timeout it was Justin Harris who had a jumper in the lane that rimmed out at the buzzer, ending the Huskies’ shot at a   postseason bid.

“We played well. I told Justin to attack the rim on that last play and he did. I thought it was going in,” Hallgarth said.

Risseeuw finished with a team-high 14 points, while Church had 12. Lizzotte added 11 and Harris had seven. Drake Davidson scored five and Kyle Ludwig had two.

Romeo had a game-high 21 points for Irrigon, and Francisco Nunez added 17.

“This team, any time we’ve had a second chance at someone, we’ve made the right adjustments. We played tough,” Hallgarth said.

The Huskies play Enterprise Friday before hosting Pilot Rock Saturday in the season  finale.