The Northwestern boys basketball team hosted District 2 runner up Dallas in the first round of the state playoffs.

The Tigers had a tough time just getting the ball in the opening quarter thanks to Dallas’ 6-foot-4 Pat Flanagan.

The junior had eight rebounds in the first eight minutes, three of which were on the offensive end and later in the game, started to be an offensive scoring force as the Mountaineers controlled the game early and late for a 57-48 first round win.

Down 11-4 after the opening quarter thanks primarily to Flanagan’s rebounding, Northwestern head coach Pat Wanamaker made some defensive changes and kept Flanagan from hogging the rebounds. Northwestern also held him to just six points in the first half.

With Flanagan under control, the Northwestern offense moved to work from the outside rather than trying to drive to the basket against a team with a size advantage.

Cannon Fitch’s basket with 49 seconds left tied the game. Kael Berry put up a shot just before the horn sounded and drained it from the corner to give Dallas a 22-19 lead going into the break.

“That’s what their defense forced us to shoot (three-pointers),” Wanamaker said. “I felt like we moved the ball around well and were patient offensively and those were the shots that we were going to get and we made enough of them to get ourselves back into the basketball game.

“Even in the second half, I felt like we took good shots. We missed a few free throws, and that would have been beneficial. Overall, I’m just really happy with the way that the kids battled.”

Foul hurt Northwestern in the game. Dallas hit 13 of 16 free throws. The Tigers went 4-for-9 in the game.

To start the second half, Brady Zimmerman drove the baseline for an early basket. Brady Krimmel made a three-pointer put Northwestern up 24-22, its first lead since it was up 4-2 early in the game.

Flanagan scored five of the next seven points as Dallas surged back in front 29-24.

Northwestern again worked its way back and trailed by one, but Dallas again flexed its muscles and went back up by six. Northwestern came back, but a three from Tyce Mason and a steal by Joey Nocito for an easy layup gave Dallas a 39-32 lead, equaling its largest of the game to that point.

The Tigers trailed 39-35 after three quarters

Krimmel finished with 15 points to lead Northwestern.

“There are worse ways you could go out than a state playoff game at home,” said Wanamaker. “We had back-to-back league titles, back-to-back district finalists, and back-to-back state home games. One day, these seniors will understand just how special this run was and appreciate it for what it was.”

Northwestern loses three players to graduation, but all three are starters. Mason Bollinger led the Tigers in scoring with a 13.3 points per game average with classmate Malachi Coleman finishing at 11.0 per game. Cannon Fitch finished his senior year averaging 8.7 points per game. Coleman and Fitch tied for the league lead with 39 three-pointers for the season.