The Cardinals stumbled out of the gate, literally.

North Clay was just 2-of-10 in the first quarter from the field and committed six turnovers as they trailed Dieterich 15-6 at the first horn.

But things turned around for Coach Josh Zink and his club the remainder of the game.

Senior leadership from all-tournament selections Logan Fleener and Alex Boose led the Cardinals back into contention and the club finished off their rally in the final minutes from the free throw line.

Fleener, a 6-1 senior, nailed down a game-high 20 points while 6-2 senior Boose added 14 in the victory as the Cardinals sit at 16-7 on the season.

Senior Levi Smith added 11 important points in the victory for Coach Zink's club.

After a disappointing semifinal loss to St. Anthony and poor start on Saturday, the team responded with a come-from-behind effort for third place hardware.

Freshman guard Cody Zimdars added eight points for the Cardinals.

Dieterich and first year head coach Brent Bohnhoff got off to a great start and held their own with the higher seeded Cardinals before dropping to 16-8 on the year.

Six-two junior guard Caleb Gephart paced the Movin' Maroons with 16 points and teammate Lucas Westendorf, a 6-1 sophomore, added to the totals with 14.

Senior Kolton Kidd, a 6-5 forward, scored 11 in the contest, with four of his field goals coming in the first quarter onslaught in which Dieterich led 11-0 with just 3:14 left in the stanza.

The Maroons hit 7-of-12 first quarter attempts and didn't allow a North Clay point for nearly six minutes to begin the matchup.

Smith hit 1-of-2 free throws before adding a shot in the lane while teammate junior guard Ethan Kuenstler hit a 3-pointer for his club to finally get North Clay going as they trailed 15-6 at the end of the dreadful first period.

Although the Cardinals offensive was significantly better in the second quarter, they still struggled stopping Dieterich.

Fleener scored seven of his points in the second and his 3-pointer from the left corner got the Cardinals to within 23-19 with 2:02 before halftime.

Both Gephart and Kidd answered with points on a nice drive in the lane and a 3-pointer from the right corner respectively for a 28-21 advantage heading into the second half.

“In the second half we needed to dictate the game defensively. In the first half we were not high energy, we were not competing, we were just out there hanging out and playing,” said Coach Zink. “And that's not what we do. Defensively we went to 'man-to-man' more. We started to shine there in the second half and I thought it was because of our defense.”

Defensively Coach Zink's club was more effective in the second half as they rallied to take the lead in the third quarter.

Smith got his club off to a great start with a rebound of his own missed shot that turned into a conventional three-point play.

He also added a score on a lob inside as both of those scores started the Cardinals on a run that would get them their first led of the contest.

A pair of free throws by Boose and a 3-pointer from Fleener gave North Clay a 31-30 advantage.

The Cardinals finished off the quarter with an 11-4 run.

Zimdars, who is a freshman starter for Coach Zink, nailed down back-to-back 3-pointers before Fleener made a couple of great plays.

He scored on a drive in the lane for a short jumper before taking a defensive rebound and going coast-to-coast for a score while being fouled by Kidd.

The converted free throw pushed the score to 42-36 heading to the fourth.

North Clay defensively forced six Dieterich turnovers and just a 4-of-12 performance offensively in the frame.

Boose, Fleener and Smith took care of the Cardinals victory in the fourth quarter as the Cardinals fought off one final move by the Maroons.

Leading just 49-48 with 3:43 left, Boose scored twice on shots near the basket.

Closing out the deal from the foul line (5-of-6) resulted in a third place win.

“It was really crucial for us to win this game. We haven't lost two games (in a row) this year, especially after last night's performance. We wanted to make sure we bounced back and move forward again,” said Coach Zink.

Dieterich ended up 22-of-47 overall and just 2-of-13 on 3-point shots.

North Clay hit a difference making 7-of-17 from the 3-point line and 18-of-45 overall while hitting 15-of-19 free throws in comparison to 4-of-8 for the Movin' Maroons.

“You're not going to beat a good team like North Clay unless you put four quarters together and we didn't do that today,” said Coach Bohnhoff. “We played two and a half to three quarters of good basketball but we got into some foul trouble. The tempo in the second half was definitely their (North Clay) tempo. We can't try to get up and down the floor with them.”

The 6-3 guard did his damage to St. Elmo/Brownstown by 'getting to the rim' multiple times during the contest.

Wittenberg paced his team with 25 points as WSS improved to 18-7 on the season with the victory.

The senior guard and all-tournament selection nailed down 7-of-7 free throws, including three important tosses in the fourth quarter as they held off the Eagles for the hardware.

Coach Shane Smith got balanced scoring from everyone else in the win as seven other Hatchets inked the book in the triumph.

Both senior Jordan Wittenberg and sophomore Jackson Gurgel scored six points in the win while senior Carter Chaney added five points.

Nathanial Gracey, a 6-2 junior, scored three points for the Hatchets.

Three other WSS players scored two points each.

Junior Talon Bridges, senior Rhett Rincker and senior Dylan Curry each added a field goal.

The Eagles saw their mark slip to 15-7 on the season for Coach Greg Feezel.

Jarrett Pasley, a 6-0 senior guard, scored 12 points to lead SEB in the loss while junior Cade Schaub added 10.

Junior guard Adam Atwood added eight points for the Eagles.

Austin Wittenberg scored eight of his points in the first quarter and Gracey hit his only field goal of the game, a 3-pointer from the right wing, late in the first quarter as WSS closed the quarter and began the second frame with a 9-0 run.

A score from Curry to begin the second quarter at the 6:17 mark forced a St. Elmo/Brownstown time out with the Eagles down 19-10.

Coach Feezel's club shut down the Hatchets the rest of the way as they rattled home 13 consecutive points.

Atwood scored four of his points in the quarter with a pair of free throws and a steal and fast break score.

Pasley also hit a couple of field goals in the quarter and senior Caleb Campbell knocked down his only shot, a 3-pointer from the right corner with :05 left in the half for a 23-19 Eagles' lead at halftime.

The Hatchets hit just 1-of-9 shots from the floor and committed five turnovers as they relinquished the lead.

SEB built its largest lead of the game on the strength of three straight scores from Schaub.

A baseline drive, a 3-pointer from the top of the circle and a score inside on a pass from Campbell got the Eagles going and Pasley nailed down a trey from the left wing for a 33-25 lead with 3:35 left in the quarter.

At this point of the proceedings Austin Wittenberg had seen enough.

The senior scored on a drive to the basket and then on a put back of a missed free throw from his brother Jordan to close the quarter.

He then scored the first five points of the fourth quarter to give his club back the lead on a three-point play and a steal and transition basket.

Consecutive 3-point bombs delivered by Gurgel (two) and Chaney (one) gave WSS a 45-41 lead.

A final tally, a 3-pointer from Pasley was the final points for SEB with 1:59 left.

Austin Wittenberg again got to the rim on a drive and four consecutive free throws in the final seconds by Chaney and Wittenberg slammed the door shut on a consolation championship game win.

Neither team performed well offensively as a whole as WSS hit just 18-of-41 from the floor, 4-of-12 from the arc.

SEB was just 17-of-46, 6-of-20 from long range.

The Hatchets won the rebounding war 29-17 and the committed just three of their 10 turnovers in the second half.

St. Elmo/Brownstown, in contrast, coughed up six of its 14 miscues in the final eight minutes.

Senior guard Ethan Watwood added 11 points for Coach Blake Doehring's club as they improved to 17-8 on the season.

Rahkeim Anderson, a 5-9 senior, added eight points for the victors as they jumped out to a 22-16 lead and then used a 13-5 second quarter for a 35-21 halftime advantage.

South Central hit 17-of-21 free throws in the contest, 10-of-12 in the fourth quarter for the win.

Neoga and Coach Andrew Snow saw the record slip to 7-17 on the season with the loss.

Two players; 6-3 senior Quintin Richards and 6-1 junior Trey Sheehan scored 14 points each for Neoga.

Sophomore Landon Titus (nine) and senior Brady Reynolds (eight) along with senior Kaden Will (two) rounded out the scoring for the Tribe.