Hoping for an outright championship in the Tri-County Conference, the California boys basketball team found itself rooting for Osage.
Unfortunately for the Pintos, it didn't work out.
After losing to conference rival Blair Oaks, 71-66, on Tuesday, Feb. 17, California needed the Falcons to lose at Osage in Friday night's final conference game. Blair Oaks, though, cruised to an easy 74-50 win.
Once the dust settled, the Pintos and Falcons were crowned co-champions, both finishing 6-1 in the conference.
"It's tough," Pintos senior guard Eli Freeman said after the Blair Oaks loss. "This was for a conference championship. We'll share it with them, but it doesn't feel the same. We wanted it all for ourselves."
After three quarters at Blair Oaks, the Pintos appeared to be in good shape. California led 18-16 after the first quarter, 38-30 at halftime and 55-45 entering the final period.
"We were up 10 and needed to hold on," Pintos senior guard Jaden Barr said. "But we got a little wild and they started hitting shots and got the momentum. They played well in the fourth and we didn't."
The Falcons couldn't seem to miss a shot - or free throw - in the final eight minutes, outscoring California 26-11.
"We played good defense; they just hit shots," Freeman said. "They hit big shot after big shot after big shot."
Trailing by three with 3 minutes left, Blair Oaks tied the score at 59-59 on senior Kory Franks' 3-pointer. California senior Damon Shaw responded with a layup, but the Falcons hit a jumper and two free throws to open a 63-61 lead with 1:39 left.
After Shaw made one free throw, Blair Oaks scored the next four points, all on free throws, to take a 67-62 advantage. California got within three on senior Drew Norton's layup, but the Falcons sank four more free throws to seal the win.
"They pretty much hit every shot," Barr said. "It's not like they were wide open; they just hit everything. We had a dry-spell and started to turn the ball over. Give them credit. They hit shots and free throws."
Barr finished with 19 points, while Freeman had 15 and Norton scored 10.
"We should have won it," Barr said. "We feel like we're the better team, but we'll learn from it, move on and try to get better."
California rebounded with a 66-61 victory at Pilot Grove on Thursday night, improving to 20-3 overall. The Pintos were scheduled to finish the regular season Friday night at Tipton, but that game was cancelled because of bad weather.