Eric Northweather, a 6-9 Falcons senior, dropped in 25 points and younger (don't say little) brother Luke, a 6-9 sophomore, scored 23 points as Blair Oaks pulled away down the stretch for an 83-58 win over the St.Michael (Olathe, Kan.) Guardians in the Central Bank Shootout on Saturday at Rackers Fieldhouse.

"That's a really good basketball team," Falcons coach Ryan Fick said of the Guardians (16-5). "They've got guys who are going to play at the next level, they'd won nine in a row, and they play a tough schedule in the Kansas City area.

"So this was a good, quality win for us."

Not every game --- actually, most games --- don't offer much of a challenge for the deeply talented Falcons (19-2, No. 1 Class 3).

It's especially hard to always bring your best when you're in the Dog Days of the season. But ...

"You could tell they were excited for this game," Fick said, "because they knew it was a quality opponent. It's good to see them rise to the occasion against a team like that."

It didn't take long for the elder Northweather to once again reach double figures --- about four minutes. Most of his scores came at point-blank range off assists from Luke.

"They play well together and complement each other well," Fick said. "A lot of the assists they have are to each other.

"They have that sibling rivalry, but when they get on the floor and they're on the same team, they're a pretty dangerous duo."

You could say that. On this night, both finished with 11 rebounds, giving the duo a combined 48 points and 22 boards.

Eric tallied 14 of his 25 in the first quarter, as Blair Oaks took an 18-13 lead. The Falcons' margin was only 34-32 at the half and still just our points with under 2 1/2 minutes left in the third, before Blair Oaks scored the final five points of the frame to take a 56-47 lead into the fourth.

Down nine after three quarters, the Guardians --- who are coached by Mark Scanlon, brother of Rock Bridge coach Jim Scanlon --- started pressing to get back in it.

That only made it worse.

"When they started pressing us and extending their defense," Fick said, "for a few possessions, we were a little shaky. But once we composed ourselves and started taking care of the basketball, I thought we started getting some things in transition and taking advantage of the mismatches we had.

"We were getting the ball in the post and they started doubling down, and Eric and Luke both do a good job of finding the open guys on the perimeter. And we had guys knocking shots down ... Quinn Kusgen and Jake Closser both shot the ball extremely well tonight."

It's almost not fair when you have the Northweathers inside and good shooters outside.

The perimeter duo combined to score 33 points --- Kusgen had 19, Closser 14 --- and the Falcons outscored the Guardians 27-11 in the fourth, making it a 25-point game.

But it was a lot closer than that.

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JEFFERSON CITY blanketed Hogan Prep with a swarming defense in the second half, holding the Rams (10-9) to just 14 points as the Jays notched a 63-47 win.

The Rams led 17-16 after one quarter, before the Jays (9-8) took control. In the second, Sterling DeSha dropped in 11 of his game-high 22 points as the Jays used a 24-16 edge to take a 40-33 lead at the break.

The advantage was 54-41 after three for Jefferson City, which also received 13 points from Keith Driver and 10 from Chris Helming.

THE HELIAS CRUSADERS hit six free throws in the final 50 seconds to secure a 67-59 win over the Kirkwood Pioneers in the finale of Saturday's eight-game Shootout.

The Crusaders (13-4) trailed the Pioneers (9-10) 16-11 after one, before gaining a 33-30 lead at the break and taking a 55-51 lead into the fourth.

Damon Johanns led a balanced attack with 16 points for the winners, Colby LeCuru added 15, Malcolm Davis scored 12 and Marcus Anthony had 11.

In the other boys game, the defending Class 5 boys state champions, the Rock Bridge Bruins, stretched their winning streak to 13 straight with an 84-59 rout of Soldan.

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The Jefferson City Lady Jays didn't necessarily play bad defense, but it wasn't good enough.

On the game's final shot, however, the Lady Jays played really good defense --- and it still wasn't enough.

Basketball happens.

Savana Powell-Goodman had a 28-foot prayer answered, as her 3-pointer with time running down lifted the Republic Lady Tigers to a stunning 60-57 upset of the Lady Jays in Game 5 of Saturday's Central Bank Shootout at Rackers Fieldhouse.

"We got deflection," Lady Jays coach Brad Conway said, "the girl catches it, turns and throws it up there --- and it goes in. There's not much you can do when the other team has a night like that, especially when they shoot them deep like that.

"It was their night."

You could say that again, it was their night. The Lady Tigers (13-7) started the game red-hot and they never cooled off.

"I think we allowed them too much room (on 3-pointers); I think we were worried about their dribble drive," Conway said. "Then when they started getting hot, the basket just kept getting bigger, bigger, bigger. They just got on a roll.

"They don't have one or two 3-point shooters, they have five."

True enough. Republic made 13-pointers spread among five players, with freshman star Kaemyn Bekemeir leading the way with four that accounted for 12 of her 29 points.

The Lady Jays (17-2, No. 3 Class 5) led the unranked Lady Tigers (13-7) 21-15 at the the first quarter. Jefferson City --- led by Kara Daly's 29 points --- scored the first six points of the second to build a 12-point lead, which it maintained at 34-22 at the half.

But Republic used a 24-10 scoring edge in the third to nab a 46-44 heading to the final frame, which set up the fantastic (depends on who you ask) finish,

"It happened," Conway said. "You take it and like I told them, this doesn't make or break their season. Now, we go back to work Monday and get ready for our next game.

And what a game it should be --- a date with second-ranked Rock Bridge (15-3) at 7 p.m. Thursday at Fleming Fieldhouse.

CENTRAL BANK SHOOTOUT

GIRLS RESULTS

Lift for Life Academy 50, Owensville 42
Cape Notre Dame 44, Blair Oaks 34
Republic 60, Jefferson City 57
Helias 55, St. Michaels 42

BOYS RESULTS

Rock Bridge 84, Soldan 59
Jefferson City 63, Hogan Prep 47
Blair Oaks 83, St. Michaels 58
Helias 67, Kirkwood 59