PENDER - Two of the East Husker Conference's best teams took the court on Saturday night and the battle did not disappoint. 

The Class D1 #6 Howells-Dodge Jaguars (12-4) traveled to Pender to take on the Class C2 #4 Pendragons (15-1) and early in the game, the defenses took center stage.

Both Pender and Howells-Dodge made it difficult for the other side to penetrate the defense, but an Ethan Prusa three-pointer helped jump the Jaguars up 7-5 over the Pendragons after the first quarter.

Both teams swapped leads in the second quarter. Late in the first half, the Jaguars led 15-14 when a Pender technical foul allowed Howells-Dodge to tack on a pair of free throws and use the final possession of the half to score an Andre Martin bucket.

Howells-Dodge would increase their 19-14 lead from the first half into a 31-20 lead midway through the third.

Pender caught fire, scoring back to back three's from Trevor Trimble and Zander Welsh. Trimble also scored at the rim and drew the foul, completing the three-point play.

Trailing 32-29 into the fourth quarter, the Pendragon's took a one point lead. The Jaguars battled back, retaking the lead and then increasing it with under two minutes, thanks to a big Chase Luther triple.

Trimble hit another three-pointer to cut the deficit to three points and after a defensive stand, Pender had under 8 seconds for a final shot.

Zander Welsh gave it a good look, but couldn't connect on the tying triple.

Howells-Dodge was led by Nathan Tomcak with 11 points, followed by Andre Martin and Dane Meyer scoring 8.

Trevor Trimble dropped 20 points in the tight Pender loss.