The No. 4 seed Wildcats were outscored by the top-seeded Cardinals 14-6 in overtime of a 57-49 loss Thursday night in the semifinals of the 76th-annual Tipton Tournament.
New Bloomfield was down 26-20 at halftime, but outscored Tipton 14-8 in the third quarter to pull even at 34-all. The Wildcats then forced overtime when senior forward Brady Wiler drove the lane for a layup with 5 seconds left in regulation, tying the game at 43-all.
The Cardinals countered by putting up the first five points in overtime and took control from there, handing New Bloomfield its first loss of the season.
"We couldn't recover from that," Wildcats head coach Tim Gilmore said.
Wiler paced New Bloomfield (2-1) with 16 points and eight rebounds. Junior guards Grant Nichols and Derek Shikles chipped in with 12 and 10 points, respectively.
"The heart and effort was there, but we're just missing some small, little details," Gilmore said. "We're a good team, but to be a great team we've got to take care of those things."
The Wildcats will face either No. 2 seed Macks Creek or No. 3 Jamestown for third place at 4:30 p.m. Saturday.