Viking point guard David Natale scores an easy two points after a steal against the Eagles. (T-G Photo by Jimmy Jones) [Click to enlarge]

SPENCER -- Community lost 48-45 Tuesday night, but left District 9-A leader Van Buren County shaking their heads at how lucky they were to escape with a win.

Wylder Norris scored a game-high 18 points and the Viking defense held Eagle stars Darrin Baker and Justin Smith to 14 and 12 points respectively, taking them to the last possession of the game before the outcome was secure.

The Vikings (9-6, 4-3 9-A) jumped out on top and stayed there through most of the first two quarters as Norris and David Natale combined for 10 points to post a 12-9 lead after one period.

The Viking defense continued to hold down the vaunted Van Buren County offensive firepower and led by as many as nine with 3:21 to play in the half.

"We held the best offense in the district to 13 points for a quarter and a half and then let them score nine points in three minutes," Community coach Jace Bryant said. "If we can finish out the way we started the half we go into the locker room up by eight or nine and feeling pretty good about ourselves.

"It was definitely a good half for us, but we lost our focus for just a few minutes and it turned out to be one of the major turning points in the game."

The Vikings went right back to work and regained the lead on as pretty a spin move in the lane as you'd ever want to see as Norris scored over Baker in their first touch of the second half.

The Eagle (18-4, 9-0) defense showed up strong the rest of the way in the third quarter and limited Community to just three baskets while all five of their starters got into the scoring column to take a 33-28 lead into the final stanza.

Cody Pierce got the Vikings going with a steal and a runner in the lane to trim the lead to three and then scored again less than a minute later on a feed from Natale to prompt a Van Buren County timeout to slow the roll.

Wylder Norris scores two of his game-high 18 points over Van Buren star Darrin Baker in the fourth quarter of their District 9-A battle. (T-G Photo by Jimmy Jones) [Click to enlarge]

Community held on defense out of the break but turned the ball over on a hotly contested charging call that took points off of the board and sent the ball the other way for the home team.

"Things were looking good for us midway through the fourth quarter," Bryant said. "We had a couple of chances to get back on top and either turned it over or had the ball bounce the wrong way for us.

Community tied the game with just under three minutes to play before Alex Farris, who was 0-for-7 shooting in the first three quarters for the Eagles, buried consecutive 3-pointers to help seal the deal and keep his squad undefeated in district play.

Pierce's 3-point attempt at the buzzer went awry on a play which may very well have been called a foul on another night.

"Justin (Stallings), who is our strongest player, had to sit a big part of the game due to touch fouls, and his presence was really missed under the boards," Bryant said.

"Van Buren outrebounded us down the stretch and the two 3-pointers that their guy hit was pivotal for them. We still had a shot at them in the final seconds but we didn't have any timeouts left to draw up a play and we sort of winged it.

"Give them credit; they hit the shots when they needed to. I told my guys that they could be proud of their effort against the number one team and in a hostile gym on the road. If we continue to play like this we will win some ballgames down the stretch."

Community welcomes District 9-A foe Eagleville to Unionville on Friday night.