The Prescott Cardinals lost to the Osceola Chieftains on the road in their final game of the regular season on Monday, Feb. 19 by a score of 65-55.

The game was a lot closer than it looked, as Osceola only managed to pull away in the closing minutes of the game. For 12-1 Prescott, this was a case of losing the battle but winning the war as they had locked up the Middle Border Conference Championship last week, but still had to play the number two 11-2 Chieftains for sole ownership of the title as they were just one game behind going into Monday night.

Osceola scored first, putting up one from the line and two from the field. Prescott answered with a three, but the Chieftains got on of their own to keep the status quo.

An Osceola steal led to two points, and Prescott ran it back, scoring two of their own without hesitation.

As the game approached mid period, Prescott pulled ahead off a shot by Dallas Wallin from the line and a three-pointer by Mason Schommer, and the score became 12-10 at the 10:00 mark as Osceola took a timeout. Ian Leask hit another deep shot for the Cardinals coming out of the stoppage, and Max Monteith hit a jumper for two more to make it 17-10 with 9:00 to go.

Both teams exchanged three-pointers briefly, but the Chieftains would come out ahead on the exchange as they wound up going on a 14-3 run to take a 24-20 lead with 5:00 left in the first period.

Kobe Russell got two of those points back from the line with just under 4:00 left, but Osceola’s hot shooting continued with a second chance shot after an offensive rebound which they took from beyond the arc to make it 27-24.

The Chieftains hit another three before time expired to make it 30-24, and with 0:30 remaining, they had the ball back and were driving once again. Osceola got another look and took the shot just before the buzzer, but they missed.

In the process of recovering the rebound, Russell got fouled yet again with just 0:02 remaining on the clock, and yet again, he was perfect for two. Thus, the Cardinals went into the half down 30-26.

Things started similarly in the second half to the way they did in the first. Prescott came out and scored six straight to take the lead. A strong block by Wallin kept points off the board, and the Cardinals seemed to be rolling.

Things slowed down quickly though, and a couple of defensive minutes later, the Chieftains took the lead back from beyond the arc which brought the score to 35-34.

The similarities to the first period continued as Osceola used this momentum to go on a long 11-4 run which put Prescott back in the hole at 46-38 with 9:30 remaining. In the first period, it was Russell who made the difference at the line for the red birds, this time it was Monteith that did the work, sinking three straight from the charity stripe to start righting the ship for the Cardinals.

Prescott kept battling back, and with 6:00 remaining, they pulled within four after Barrett Temmers drained a deep three-pointer. They got the ball right back, and Wallin drew a foul and came away with two more points after sinking a pair of free throws. This brought the score to 50-48, and with 5:00 to go, it was still anybody’s ballgame.

That was as close Prescott would get to taking the lead though as things started moving the other way.

With 3:00 remaining, it was still 54-50 in favor of the home team. Although Prescott had some good looks and played hard, missed shots and miscues beleaguered the Cardinals while the Chieftains continued to do damage.

Prescott fought all the way to the end and made every effort to come back, but the more they struggled, the more the game slipped away. The Cardinals would eventually lose by 10 at 65-55.

It was a disappointing loss for a team that has been plagued by the Chieftains in recent seasons.

Head Coach Nick Johnson says that even though they won the conference championship, it’s a little bittersweet after the loss.

“Nobody wants to share a title, especially with a team that's taken it to us the last two years and ended our season twice and beat us two out of three times last year. It's tough, somehow we just don't seem to play well here. I don't know what it is, it's like the Twilight Zone,” Johnson said. “We lost to a really good team. They're well coached, they work hard and they are just fundamentally solid. They really are. We just didn't do a lot of things right tonight. So, it's disappointing, but we've got to move on for playoffs.”

The rivalry goes deeper than the conference issues they’ve had with the Chieftains too as they were the ones to eliminate them in the sectional round of the tournament last season, and there’s a good chance they could get yet another rematch with Osceola in the postseason this year.

Johnson says the mentality just wasn’t there tonight, and they need to learn from that going into the playoffs.

“We're not just going to walk out on the floor and win a game. We kind of felt that before the game, and our focus just wasn't there,” Johnson said. “We came out a little tight, and we just made some stupid mistakes with turnovers and defensive breakdowns and things like that. So hopefully this gets our focus back for the playoffs, we can learn from it and take something out of it.”

Still, even though the finish isn’t as sweet as Prescott fans would’ve liked, Johnson says they played a great season, and they are proud to be the Middle Border Conference champions.

With the regular season behind them, the Cardinals advance into the playoffs with a first round bye as the one-seed. The postseason officially begins for Prescott in Round 2 this Friday when they will host the winner of the Amery and Barron game at home. Tipoff is at 7 p.m.