Needing to win one more game to get into the playoffs, the Nocona Indians fell just short on Friday in a play-in game against City View.
Despite beating them at home the previous week, the Indians lost a tight game to the Mustangs 52-49.
City View came out and made two quick three-pointers to go up 6-0. Nocona responded by shutting them down for the four minutes while they slowly took a narrow 7-6 lead.
The Indians starting post player Rowdy Waters picked up two quick fouls early on and was forced to sit as both teams combined for nine fouls in the first quarter alone.
The teams traded baskets for the final three minutes as the first quarter was tied at 11-11. Without Waters, Nocona was forced to play small as Jason Sparkman exploited the Mustangs lack of muscle inside by scoring six points from the high post area.
The second quarter saw the Indians really start to separate themselves with good defense and good offensive execution. Despite starting point guard Hunter Fenoglio also going into foul trouble, Nocona was able to go up 22-13 midway through the quarter.
It was there when things flipped on their head as the Mustangs charged back, jumping passing lanes and scoring in transition while the Indians looked out of sync. City View was not only able to catch up, but take a narrow 23-22 lead into halftime.
In the final minute of the second quarter, disaster struck the Indians when back point guard Landry McCasland went down with a leg injury which was serious enough there was no question he would not return for the night. Nocona would have to go forward in the second half with one point guard who was one foul away from fouling out.
The third quarter started off slow offensively for both teams as neither team could get more than a one basket lead on the other. The final two and half minutes of the quarter saw both teams trade multiple three-pointers back-to-back to end the quarter in a flurry. The Mustangs held only a 36-34 lead as it was still anyone’s game heading into the fourth quarter.
The first half of the quarter did not go the way of the Indians. City View established its biggest lead of the game up 45-36 with 4:15 left to play. Things started to look hopeless as Fenoglio, who had played the entire second half up till then without picking up his fifth foul, fouled out with 3:55 to go.
With senior shooting guards Alex Diaz and Joan Gomez having to run the offense despite not having much experience, Nocona dug its heels in and fought for survival down 47-40.
Water nailed a three-pointer to cut the lead to 47-43. After a stop, Sparkman was able to put in an offensive rebound while getting fouled to cut the lead to 47-45. Sparkman missed the free throw, but Gomez got the offensive rebound and was able to score off of it to tie the game up 47-47 with two minutes to play.
City View was able draw free throws and made both to go up 49-47. Sparkman made another mid-range jump shot from the top of the key to make it 49-49. The Mustangs were in the bonus and drew more free throws. They made one of two to go up 50-49 with 1:11 left to play.
The Indians ran their offense and looked like they might hold it for the final shot, but were fouled and forced to shoot free throws for a one-and-one. They missed it and City View got the ball back. Nocona was forced to foul to send them to the free throw line, but Diaz, one of the team’s best shooters, had fouled out.
The Mustangs were able to make both clutch free throws to go up by three with 20 seconds left. The Indians tried to set up a look, but Coach Colby Schniederjan did not like where it was headed and called a timeout with a few seconds left to set up a final shot.
The play worked and Nocona player got a good look at a three-pointer from the corner that would have tied the game. Unfortunately, the ball did not go in. City View won 52-49.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.