Boys' basketball: T-Birds tumble to New Haven in semifinals

Winning streak stalls at 10 games

MOKANE - A dismal fourth quarter doomed the North Callaway Thunderbirds' winning streak and championship hopes.

No. 6 seed New Haven broke a 26-all tie by outscoring No. 2 North Callaway 22-10 over the last 8 minutes as the Shamrocks tripped the Thunderbirds 48-36 in the semifinals of the South Callaway Invitational Tournament on Thursday night.

North Callaway (10-3) had its impressive win streak end at 10 games.

The Thunderbirds were up 15-9 after one quarter, but New Haven (8-5) outscored the Thunderbirds 11-7 in the second quarter to pull within 22-20 at halftime. The Shamrocks then pulled even by edging North Callaway 6-4 in the third quarter.

Senior guard Dawson Wright paced the Thunderbirds with 11 points and six rebounds. Sophomore guard Cody Cash chipped in with 10 points.

"The score doesn't show how close the game was - the difference was that New Haven made jump shots in the second half and we didn't," North Callaway head coach Matt Miller said. "All of our points were right at the basket.

"New Haven is a good defensive team. Our kids played hard the entire game and we want to come back and come away with a trophy."

Ethan Groner hit three 3-pointers and was 9-of-10 from the free-throw line to guide the Shamrocks with a game-high 25 points. Jay Eichelberger provided 10 points.

The Thunderbirds will face No. 5 seed Vienna for third place, but the date and time has not been decided. With the tournament postponed tonight and Saturday due to the winter storm warning, South Callaway school officials will explore makeup options next week for the boys' trophy games.