WHITTEMORE-PRESCOTT - Mar. 8, 2010 - The third meeting of the season between Whittemore-Prescott and Alcona proved to be the best of the bunch, as Alcona hung on to a 73-69 opening round Class C district tournament win Monday night.

“If you have to lose, I would rather lose in a tight one than a blowout,” W-P head coach Reuben Edwards said. “I can't complain about us getting back in the game... the ball didn't go our way a couple of times.”

The squads split their two games in the regular season, and for most of the night, evidence of just how even the teams were was abundant.

The hosting Cards had the early edge, though just barely as they used two Chris Downes three pointers and another by Clay Loomis in the opening quarter to take a 17-16 lead.

With the score tied at 27 late in the second quarter, Loomis, a freshman, is knocked down two consecutive three-balls to put the Cards up 33-27.

However, the Tigers, after a time out by Alcona head coach Seth Coffing, tied the contest at 33 in the final minute of the half on Brock Lavergne's fourth point of the quarter.

Lavergne's basket set off a flurry of scoring in the half's closing seconds. W-P's Zach Morgan put the Cards up 35-33, only to watch Lavergne tie the game at 35 with under 10 seconds to go. The Whittemore inbounder alertly lofted a deep pass back to Morgan, who was wide open for a lay up as the halftime buzzer sounded to give W-P a 37-35.

The Cardinals were forced to start the third quarter with Downes, one of the team's leading scoring threats, on the bench with three fouls.

Downes was put back in the game with 5:35 to go in the quarter, with the game tied at 41, but before his impact was felt he picked up his fourth foul with just over four minutes to go in the frame.

With Downes out of the ball game, Alcona closed the quarter on a 12-2 run, taking a 55-45 edge into the fourth quarter.

“Alcona wanted it bad tonight,” Edwards said. “When the ball was loose, they got it. We didn't crash the boards, we didn't get the ball.”

The Cardinals fell behind 59-46 with just over seven minutes remaining on two Bryan Layton free throws, which forced Edwards to insert Downes back into the game.

“We made some very big defensive plays,” Coffing said of their second half run. “We were also doing a better job at that point of handling the ball. A big part of the game was Downes (being on the bench.) He is a pretty important part of their offense.”

“(Downes being out) probably hurt us some but a lot of it is we weren't getting on our press,” Edwards said. “I was trying to find a group that would go in and (execute).”

Loomis quickly cut the gap to 59-48 with a lay up on the Card's next possession, but Alcona's Ryan Hampton hit a no-look reverse layup to but the Tigers up 61-48.

W-P wasn't about to go away however, as they quickly cut into the Alcona lead. First a basket by Mike Lovett made it 61-50. Then a three ball by Loomis cut the gap to 61-53, which was quickly followed up by a Downes steal and a basket to make it 61-55 with 4:46 remaining.

After another Alcona timeout, the Tigers edged out to a 66-56 lead with three minutes to go, and appeared to be headed for the win.

But Loomis knocked down a free throw to start a 7-0 W-P run -- including a four point play by Downes, who was fouled upon making a three point shot -- to bring the game to 66-61.

Whittemore cut the gap to 66-63 on a basket by Loomis, and forced an Alcona turnover on their turn down the court but were unable to cash in on offense.

“That is what you get playing a bunch of young guys playing with the lead down the stretch,” Coffing said. “You're going to get a lot of pressure. Sometimes we handled it well, sometimes we didn't.”

The Tigers got some breathing room with two Michael Munro free throws to go up 68-63. It was just enough as Alcona hung on for the four-point victory.

“We had a chance, we came back,” Edwards said. “We just made some mistakes and they capitalized on it. I'm proud of them, they worked hard.”

Loomis led the Cardinals (5-16) with 19 points in their season ending loss, with Downes adding 16. Morgan and Stanley Matuszak both scored six points.

Alcona (8-13) was led by Lavergne's 20 points and 10 rebounds, with Layton netting 14 and grabbing 11 boards and Alex Cole scoring 11 and dishing three assists.

The Tigers continue their season in Wednesday's district semi-final in Rogers City. The Hurons edge Alcona in two closely contested games this season.

“I think we're playing the best basketball we have all year,” Coffing said. “I'm hoping we handle their pressure better than we did the first two times.”