(Chris Allen/Democrat-News) Senior Aric Falls (12) scored 17 of his game-high 22 points during the second half to lead the 'Cats to a come-from-behind victory over ninth-ranked Pilot Grove. [Click to enlarge]

SLATER -- State-ranked Pilot Grove is finding the going tough in the power-packed boys' bracket of the 27th annual Wildcat Classic at Slater.

The CCAA-leading Tigers, No. 9 in the current Class 1 poll and winners of 11 straight coming into the week, suffered their second loss of the tournament Wednesday to the lowly-seeded hosts. Slater ended a seven-game losing streak by winning for the first time since New Year's Day, 51-48.

"We needed that one bad," admitted Wildcats head coach Brett Hays.

It was a game of streaks and slumps, Pilot Grove using its considerable size advantage to batter the Purple on the offensive glass -- taking a 27-19 lead into halftime as senior Roger Martin tallied 10 points.

However, it could have been worse for Slater. Although the Tigers had 11 offensive rebounds, they managed only five points off of them -- missing seven of nine second-chance shots.

"A lot of that was getting into foul trouble with two of our bigger kids," noted Hays of the 'Cats' trouble controlling the defensive boards. "We had to go to a four-post set, and it hurt us."

Pilot Grove had its own problems, mostly caused by a quickness deficit -- which resulted in 21 turnovers during the contest, five on charging fouls. Even in the zone defense, the Tigers found their interior being pierced by senior Aric Falls -- who came alive in the third quarter, after Slater fell behind by 10 points.

During a four-minute span, Falls hit a pair of three-pointers, set up an open look for senior Nick Allen's mid-range jumper, converted a stick-back and took a steal to the rack as the 'Cats trimmed the margin to a mere point heading into the fourth quarter.

And he wasn't done yet. Falls' drove through the lane for a game-tying bucket, made another follow shot and then got into the paint once more for a 44-40 edge with 5:02 left. The 'Cats had four chances to expand their lead over the next three minutes, but couldn't do it until Falls fed senior Kyle Durham on a baseline cut.

"He just does everything for us," Hays said. "He makes everybody better with his penetration."

Martin struck from the elbow and junior Trey Schibi made a conventional three-point play off the offensive glass to cut the deficit to one with 1:06 remaining.

Slater shot free throws the rest of the game, missing seven of 12 in the final 64 seconds to allow the Tigers to stay within shouting distance.

"That's been our Achilles heel all year," Hays conceded. "Some of that may be not having a deep bench. Guys are tired toward the end."

The 'Cats made barely enough charities to withstand a bomb from senior Nick Haller with 7.3 seconds to go. After Slater had clanked its last four charity attempts, the Tigers (13-3) were still alive. Following a timeout with 2.2 seconds remaining, freshman Jacob Schuster's long heave wasn't close.

Falls wound up with 22 points -- 17 during the second half -- 12 rebounds, four assists and three steals for the Wildcats (5-13), who will take on the winner of today's clash between Santa Fe and Carrollton for the consolation title Friday. For an inexperienced club, with only two players who started a year ago, any trophy would be a bonus.

"We're a little ways from being where we want to be," Hays conceded. "With sophomores [Cody Skinner and Chris Scott] getting minutes at the end of the game, that's going to help us down the road -- especially come district time."