After the eighth-graders started their season Nov. 1, the Otte Blair Middle School seventh-grade boys basketball team opened Thursday with a 1-1 home split against Elkhorn North Ridge.
The Bears' B squad defeated North Ridge 38-34 before the visitors won the A game 47-29.
The B game was tied 24-24 during the third period before Otte took control with a 7-0 run. Mckoy Kosch scored the first five points, including three on a make from beyond the arc, before Drew Brandl scored another bucket to close out the quarter.
The Nighthawks battled back, though, taking a 32-31 fourth period lead. Brandl scored with just under 3 minutes left to go to reclaim it for the Bears, but North Ridge claimed another one-point advantage with just 1:44 to go.
Brandl scored five straight from there, though, giving his Blair squad the four-point win.
The A game didn't go Otte's way, however. The Nighthawks earned a 18-5 first period lead despite Blair buckets by Ty Tessendorf and Thomas LeGrand.
North Ridge led by 20 at halftime and wound up 18-point victors. Tessendorf led the Bears in defeat with 17 points.
The middle school basketball season continues this week. Both the Otte seventh- and eighth-graders had games Monday and will compete Thursday. The seventh-graders host Waverly Middle School at 4:15 Thursday, while the eighth-graders play on the Vikings' home court at the same time.
