NEW WASHINGTON — The Crothersville boys basketball team felt like the New Washington Sectional was theirs for the taking, and for the first three quarters of Saturday’s semifinal, it looked as if the Tigers could find themselves playing for a championship tonight.

But some untimely whistles and some timely shots made by Rising Sun allowed the Shiners to pull away comfortably for an 80-61 victory in a game that wasn’t as comfortable for the victor as the final score suggests.

“Taking the officiating out of it, let’s give Rising Sun some credit,” head coach Bryant Layman said. “They hit some big shots in that last two minutes of that second quarter. We’ve told our guys all year, you’re not always going to get the whistle, you’re not always going to have the momentum, you have to fight through it. Tonight, that hurt us.”

The Tigers came out on fire to start the game. The energy from the crowd and their bench translated to their energy on the floor.

Crothersville led 17-13 after the first quarter in which all five starters — Preston West, Curtis Thompson, Beau Napier, Lucas Hilton and Elijah Plasse — scored baskets.

“(Our energy) really showed,” Layman said. “We felt like this was our sectional to lose. We felt like we were the better team. They matched our energy late. Our crowd, loved it. Our little town showed up tonight. The energy was there. It was electric.”

In the second quarter, Napier hit a crossover step-back jumper, which was followed by a three-point play by West to put the Tigers up six.

But as Layman alluded to, the end of the second quarter was a big momentum swing. Rising Sun ended the first half on a 12-2 lead to take a 32-28 advantage into halftime.

Brody Morris hit a couple of 3-pointers in a row to spark the Shiners.

The third quarter remained tightly contested. West and Thompson did most of the scoring in the third period for Crothersville, finishing acrobatically at the rim through traffic.

“Gosh, he’s good, isn’t he? Curtis, too,” Layman said. “They can create nothing out of midair. Those two are phenomenal.”

Crothersville trailed 49-43 heading into the fourth quarter, and then the Tigers had to come out of their 3-2 zone on defense and play man-to-man. That allowed Rising Sun to win the quarter 31-18 and pull away for the victory.

Morris led the Shiners in scoring with 22 points, and Brady Works was close behind with 20.

The high man in the game, though, was West with 25 points. He made 10 shots around the rim and went 5-of-6 from the charity stripe. Thompson, who missed the last few games with a Lisfranc injury, returned for the sectional to score 17 points.

“He was pretty motivated,” Layman said of Thompson. “He hadn’t played in three weeks, and it didn’t look like it tonight.”

In addition to those two, Napier had seven, Plasse five, Dirk Crater three, Hilton two and Corey Kelshaw two.

Crothersville (8-15) had to say goodbye to three seniors: West, Thompson and William Ragan.

“They’ve meant everything to the program,” Layman said. “They’re amazing. I love them to death. I almost wanted to cry and I’m not a crier. We’re losing a big portion of our team.”

Rising Sun (12-13) will play for the sectional championship against New Washington (12-13) tonight.

Box score

New Washington Sectional

Shiners 80, Tigers 61

Crothersville;17;11;15;18;—;61

Rising Sun;13;19;17;31;—;80

Crothersville (8-15): Preston West 10 5-6 25, Curtis Thompson 6 5-6 17, Beau Napier 3 0-0 7, Elijah Plasse 2 1-2 5, Dirk Crater 1 0-0 3, Lucas Hilton 1 0-0 2, Corey Kelshaw 1 0-0 2, Totals 24 11-13 61.

Rising Sun (12-13): Brody Morris 8 2-2 22, Brady Works 7 6-7 20, Dylan Martin 5 2-4 13, Nate Elliot 3 2-2 10, Peyton Merica 3 0-0 7, Gavin Shorten 3 0-0 6, Ben Shorten 1 0-0 3, Totals 30 12-15 80.

3-point goals: C 2 (Crater, Napier), RS 9 (Morris 4, Elliot 2, Martin, Merica, B. Shorten).

Rebounds: C 14, RS 19.

Fouls: C 14, RS 16.