Ashton Lloyd takes the ball up against USC’s Taybor Conley (15) and Zale Bushlack (22).

In what turned out to be a highly competitive game, Jack Norman’s putback bucket with one second left on the game clock gave the Blue Earth Area Buccaneers the 47-45 victory over the United South Central Rebels in the championship game of the Blue Earth Area Holiday Tournament on Dec. 30.

The Rebels’ only lead of the contest came late in the game when USC forward Taybor Conley scored on a reverse layup to tie the game at 42-42 and Zale Bushlack made one of two free throws to put USC on top 43-42 with two minutes left on the game clock.

The Bucs regained the lead when they broke the Rebels’ press and guard Gage Barker found forward Norman alone under the basket for two points and a 44-43 BEA lead.

A free throw shot by the Bucs’ Will Bromeland put BEA on top 45-43 with 1:27 to play but USC’s Johnny Martinez tied the game at 45 all when he drove the lane for a layup.

The Rebels regained possession of the ball and went for the dagger with a 3-point shot with 33 seconds remaining in the game. However, the ball did not find the bottom of the net and the Bucs set up their offense to try for the winning basket.

A shot by BEA’s Bromeland hit off the front end of the rim and Norman grabbed the ball and put it in the basket in one smooth motion to score the winning points for the Bucs.

BEA had advanced to the finals by defeating Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman/Martin Luther 74-46 in the opening round of the tournament while USC had downed Sibley East 58-38 to reach the finals.

The Bucs and the Rebels had met earlier this season, on Dec. 13. In that game, USC jumped out to the early lead and BEA had to rally for the win.

In the BEA Holiday Tournament championship game, it was the Bucs who took a 9-0 lead in the first three minutes of the game.

BEA would lead by 13 points with just over 11 minutes to play in the first half before USC would rally to close the gap.

The Rebels appeared to gain the momentum heading into the intermission when their guard, Johnny Martinez, hit a 3-pointer with seven seconds left in the opening half to cut the Bucs’ lead to 22-18.

Less than six minutes into the final half, four consecutive points by Conley had USC’s deficit down to one point with BEA holding a 26-25 lead.

The Bucs were still in front 30-27 when they scored six consecutive points to increase their advantage to 36-27.

Two baskets by Ashton Lloyd, one coming on a nice assist from Abe Kokos, plus a fast-break layup by Austin Skaden, courtesy of passes by Norman and Barker, accounted for BEA’s 6-0 run.

The Rebels increased their defensive pressure and steals by Martinez helped fuel the USC offense which led to them taking the lead before the Bucs were able to fight back and win the game.

“I was very proud of the way our guys played, especially since we were short-handed with one of our top players, Nick Bushlack, being gone on vacation,” USC head coach Adam Walker said. “The guys really stepped up and our bench made some great plays as well.”

BEA made 17 of their 35 attempts from 2-point range compared to 11 of 29 shooting for USC.

The Bucs made three of 15 shots from outside the arc while the Rebels were four of 18 from long distance.

BEA went to the line nine times and made four free throws while USC had 16 free-throw attempts and made 11.

The Rebels held a 36 to 28 advantage in rebounding and had 12 steals to nine for the Bucs.

BEA committed 19 turnovers while USC had 23.

Lloyd led the Bucs with 13 points followed by Bromeland with nine and Norman with eight. Skaden tallied seven points while Kokos had six. Barker completed the scoring for BEA with four points.

Three players scored in double figures for the Rebels. Martinez led all scorers with 18 points while both Conley and Zale Bushlack finished with 12 points each.

Leading rebounders for BEA were Norman with nine and Bromeland with five.

Zale Bushlack pulled down 12 rebounds for USC followed by Conley who finished with seven.

Kokos had four assists to lead the Bucs while Jorge Martinez and Conley each had two for the Rebels.

Skaden had four steals for BEA while USC’s Johnny Martinez recorded five steals.

The victory for the Bucs improves their overall record to 7-0 for the season while the loss drops USC’s record to 3-4.

BEA played at Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton on Thursday, Jan. 5, and at Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial on Saturday, Jan. 7. The Bucs return home on Tuesday, Jan. 10, to host the St. James Saints.

USC played host to Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton on Friday, Jan. 6, and Alden-Conger on Saturday, Jan. 7. They are scheduled to travel to Mapleton on Tuesday, Jan. 10, to take on the Eagles.

Catch up on all the basketball action in next week’s edition of the Faribault County Register.