No. 2 seed Crane mounted a furious second-half comeback against No. 3 seed Blue Eye to force overtime and pick up a 52-49 win the Class 2 District 11 semfinals.
Blue Eye led 11-9 after one quarter and expanded the lead out to 10 at 28-18 at the half. Crane cut that margin in half with a 16-11 advantage in the third quarter and then tied the game at 47-47 with a 13-8 advantage in the fourth quarter.
In the overtime period, the teams combined for just seven points with Crane hitting two field goals and a free throw to secure the win.
It was the second time in less than a month these two teams needed overtime to decide the game. On Jan. 27, Crane beat Blue Eye 79-74 in triple overtime.
Nolan Brawley (17 points), Carter Hayes (14 points) and Aidan Vaught (13 points) all scored in double figures for Crane. Colton Spinning led Blue Eye with 15 points. Teammate Jadon Weaver was just behind him at 13 points.
The win marked the seventh in nine games for the Pirates after opening the season 2-13.
Crane advances to face No. 4 seed Billings in the district title game at 7 pm on Friday in Galena. Crane beat Billings 59-42 in the regular season matchup.
Blue Eye – 11-17-11-8-2 — 49
Crane – 9-9-16-13-5 — 52
B: Colton Spinning 15, Jadon Weaver 13, Logan Isbell 7, Trenton Newman 6, Aiden Estes 4, Braden Johnson 2, Brady Isbell 2
C: Nolan Brawley 17, Carter Hayes 14, Aidan Vaught 13, Kolton Hoffman 6, Christian Church 2
