ABOVE: Granada-Huntley East Chain/Martin Luther/Truman's Jackson Madsen goes up for a layup in a Tomahawk Valley Conference, Valley Division game Thursday night in Granada against Martin County West.

GRANADA – The Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Martin Luther/Truman Jaguars (7-7) held off the Martin County West Mavericks (4-10) 54-52 on Thursday night in a Tomahawk-Valley Conference, Valley Division boys basketball game Thursday night.

“They’re a good basketball team,” said Jaguars head coach Brian Borkenhagen. “You know, we played up to a 2-point game earlier this year, now it’s another 2-point game. We each beat each other at home, but they really hit the boards hard and got a lot of second chances there, but our kids, we hit enough shots and took good enough care of the ball to have a chance at the end, we won it.”

Leading the scoring for the Jaguars were Eli Jensen and Bryce Borkenhagen with 15 points each, while Jackson Madsen had 11 points. Carson Hastad had 8 points on the night.

The scoring leaders for the Mavericks was Kale Larson with 16 points, while Jacob Wilmes had 15 points. Chase Owens had 7 points, while Josh Roben and Lucas Larson each had 4 points.

“The defense battled,” said Mavericks head coach Phillip Rotunda. “It’s a rival game and you can’t ask for a much better environment … It just comes down to little things, free

throws, a stop here, a layup, all those things add up in a 2-point game.”

With the Mavericks down 3, 38-35, their attack continued to be effective as they tied things up 38-38 with nine minutes left in the game. The Jaguars retook the lead with the help of Jensen and Madsen, going up 44-41.

A quick conversion on a 3-point play by the Mavericks tied things up again 44-44. The two teams continued to go back and forth, with neither team going up by more than 2 in the final moments of the matchup. Olson ended up sinking what became the game-winner, closing out the game 54-52.

The first half opened with an 8-0 run by the Jaguars kicked off by a bucket from Madsen capped off by Borkenhagen. The Mavericks put an end to the skid with a shot from Lucas Larson cutting the Jaguars’ lead to 6 three minutes into the game. The zone defense of the Jaguars was proving problematic for the Mavericks, who were able to extend their lead to 14-5. The Mavericks’ outside shooting helped them battle back to within 2 points, 14-12. The teams continued to battle, with Mavericks closing the gap and jumped out to a 26-18 lead courtesy of a 10-0 run consisting of two Kale Larson 3-pointers and a bucket from Wilmes. The Jaguars responded by pulling within 1 point, 26-25, to close out the half.

The Jaguars came out shooting in the second half, retaking the lead and going up 32-26 after a 7-0 run started by Borkenhagen. The Mavericks continued to battle hard in the paint with layups from Wilmes and an and-one from Owens.

The Mavericks head to Springfield on Saturday and the Jaguars head to Fulda High School at 7:15 p.m. Monday.