The ride ended earlier than expected for the Nocona Indians as they lost in the area round to Tolar on Thursday night.
The Rattlers won 57-51 against the Indians in a physical game that came down to end-of-game execution.
Nocona came into the game as favorites. The Indians were 24-11, had gone undefeated in district play, were ranked ninth in the state in 2A in the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches poll and 21st on Max Preps rankings.
Tolar was 16-14, had finished third in its district and was ranked 23rd in the TABC poll and 79th on Max Preps. However, the Rattlers had one major thing on their side.
Tolar’s starting lineup featured players as tall as 6’6” and all but one player who got major minutes were at least six feet.
Nocona’s major achilles heel has been its lack of height, with Charlie Fuller being the only player on the roster who measures at least six feet, listed at 6’1.” That combined with the team’s trouble at grabbing defensive rebounds at times, much to Coach Brody Wilson’s chagrin, and it was a major matchup issue.
The Indians seemed to carve up Tolar’s zone defense early on, passing inside only to kick it back to the perimeter for open shots or for angles to drive.
Brady McCasland made two 3-pointers and scored 10 of the team’s 14 points in the first quarter.
Nocona tried to limit catches in the paint against the Rattler’s massive post player, but had to give up some room on the outside. Even after forcing a miss, trying to gather a rebound against opponents who had major height and size advantages was tough.
The teams were tied at 14-14 after the first quarter.
The Indians had their best stretch of the game in the second quarter. Nocona was pestering Tolar on defense and limited the Rattlers to only seven points.
On offense, the Indians had three players make one 3-pointer each while McCasland was able to earn some free throws driving into the lane.
Nocona led 27-21 at halftime.
The Indians started out the second half continuing to pick apart the Rattlers, scoring twice in the first minute to go up 32-21.
Tolar would then turn things around, finding success shooting off the dribble in the mid-range area while also making three 3-pointers in the quarter to get ahead.
The Rattlers came all the way back to take the lead 34-32 as Nocona had a scoring drought for most the quarter.
The Indians picked it back up offensively in the final two minutes, but trailed Tolar 42-39 heading into the fourth quarter.
It was back and forth the first four minutes of the final period. Karson Kleinhans 3-pointer put Nocona up 48-47.
The Rattlers then had back-to-back possessions where they scored right after an offensive rebound.
McCasland then earned free throws and made one of two to cut the lead to 51-49 with 2:37 left.
After running some clock, Tolar scored on a close post shot to go up 53-49 with 1:12 left in the game.
A deep 3-pointer from Nocona missed everything for an air ball, but Conley Kleinhans caught it underneath the basket and scored to cut the deficit back to one basket 53-51 with 29 seconds left.
The Indians needed to foul three times to get into the bonus and send the Rattlers to the free throw line with 13 seconds left.
The player made both free throws to make it a two basket game 55-51.
Nocona missed and Tolar scored in celebration with a dunk at the buzzer to make the final score 57-51.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.