The Redwood Valley boys basketball team had a chance but ultimately fell short in a 53-50 loss to GFW in the opening round of Section 3AA-North play Saturday night in Winthrop.
The game had a much different look to it then the one played by the two teams less than 10 days ago which was won 79-59 by the T-Birds.
This time, the Cardinals (8-17) hung tough early on as the two teams played to a 19-19 tie at the break.
The Cardinals would go on a 12-0 run early in the second half to seemingly take control but the T-Birds (16-7) responded as Jay Rogotzke knocked down a trio of three’s to cap off a 16-4 run that tied things up.
Later, Trevor Sandgren would go to the line and hit 1-of-2 free throws to cut the GFW lead to 50-48 with under a minute to play.
GFW would tack on a pair of free throws to up the lead to 52-48 with 26 seconds remaining but J.T. Radel converted a pair of free throws to make it a 52-50 game with 16 seconds left on the clock.
Rogotzke would then miss a pair of free throws on the other end to keep Redwood Valley alive.
A three-pointer by Mike Busack fell short and following Rogotzke hitting 1-of-2 from the charity stripe for the T-Birds another half-courter by Busack would just miss to end the game.
Radel capped off a strong junior campaign with 23 points, nine rebounds and three assists.
Busack had a nice sophomore season finishing with 15 points, nine rebounds and two blocked shots.
Jesse Leith added eight points and six assists and Erich Panitzke had three points and 10 rebounds in his final game.
Rogotzke paced the T-Birds with 22 points.
