El Dorado Gets the Last Word

In the standings, this game didn’t mean a whole lot. Loara and El Dorado had already secured first and second place in the Empire League and had clinched playoff berths.

But don’t tell it to El Dorado Coach Tim Tivenan, who wanted to use the final league game as a springboard into the playoffs.

His wish came true as the Golden Hawks, ranked 10th in the county, spoiled No. 9 Loara’s bid for a perfect league record by edging the Saxons, 42-41, Friday at Loara High.

“This was very big for us,” Tivenan said. “We lost the first game [against Loara] and we had to prove to ourselves that we could get over that hump.”

Neither team led by more than five points during the defensive struggle. In the end, David Patten’s shot-blocking and Mike Wulff’s clutch free-throw shooting made the difference.

With El Dorado (22-4, 8-2) leading, 40-38, Patten blocked Nate Von Achen’s shot in the paint, the ball going out of bounds off a Loara player and giving El Dorado possession with 16 seconds left.

The Saxons (20-6, 9-1) fouled Wulff, who missed both free throws. However, he came down with the offensive rebound and was fouled again with 12 seconds remaining.

This time Wulff didn’t waste the opportunity to extend the lead, hitting both free throws.

Following another Patten block under the basket, Loara’s Collin Brennan nailed a three-pointer with 1.1 seconds left to cut the deficit to one, but the Saxons didn’t have enough time to commit an intentional foul on Wulff, who took the inbounds pass and ran out the clock.

“We really held our poise tonight,” Tivenan said. “The guys could’ve dropped off a couple of times, but they didn’t and that was the difference.”

Patten finished with 14 points and four blocks, and Evan Bull had 13 points and seven rebounds for El Dorado. Von Achen led Loara with 13 points, but missed six of nine free throws.