Blair High School's upset bid fell apart Thursday during the fourth period at Class B No. 5 Elkhorn North.
The Bears led the Wolves 48-37 going into the final quarter, but lost 55-51 when they managed just three more offensive points across the final 8 minutes. Coach Chris Whitwer's boys basketball team dropped to 6-8 with its second loss of the season to North, while coach Andy King's Wolves improved to 9-3.
Easton Bosanek and Bo Meier led the underdog Bears to a 31-25 halftime lead, though.
Bosanek, a junior, scored 11 first-period points, starting with a rare make in the post. The guard followed it up with a difficult corner 3-point make off glass before two more makes from long range the rest of the quarter.
After scoring the other six of the Bears' points during the opening period, Meier — a 6-foot-5 sophomore — added eight in the second, too. His third bucket of the quarter produced a 26-18 advantage before Bosanek's near NBA-range 3 produced BHS' largest lead of the half — 11 points.
Macholan helped BHS match that lead at the end of the third period with a steal and layup just before the buzzer. Holcomb contributed mightily to the Bears' 48-37 advantage with a 10-point quarter, too.
From there, though, Elkhorn North dominated. Meier added three points to his 19-point total, but the Wolves scored 18 to overcome Whitwer's team in stunning fashion. The home squad made five fourth-quarter 3s altogether to claim victory.
Blair next plays 7:30 p.m. today at Council Bluffs Lewis Central.
BHS BOYS HOOPS LINE SCORE
Thursday
No. 5 Elkhorn North 55, Blair 51
BHS (6-8) 17 14 17 3 — 51
EN (9-3) 16 9 12 18 — 55
Scoring: BHS — Bo Meier 19, Easton Bosanek 14, Ben Holcomb 10, Crayton Macholan 5, Aidan Slominski 3.
EN — Kellen Murphy 19, Sutton Piatkowski 14, Cole DeBuse 10, Tyler Nietfeldt 6, Jase Reynolds 3, Nike Orgilbold 3.
