ELYRIA — In a crowd-friendly game that featured a one-man performance local fans will likely remember for years, Elyria Catholic nearly pulled the upset of the basketball season Tuesday night.

The Panthers, 1-8 and 1-3 in the North Coast League, fell to NCL unbeaten Villa Angela-St. Joseph, 55-53, with a missed 3-point shot at the buzzer.

It turned out to be the final shot of Andrew Kubuski’s high school career and came after Kubuski had already scored scored 27 points, including five 3-point baskets. As a practical matter, he took over the game in the second half.

It was Kubuski’s last game: He’s scheduled to have surgery to repair a shoulder injury in the next few days.

“He’s been a pretty solid player for them over the years,” VASJ coach Dave Wojciechowski said of Kubuski. “You know he can shoot it and he got hot today. I think he made some with hands in his face, to his credit.

Unfortunately, that’s his last game, but what a way to go out. He really had a heck of a game and my hat’s off to him.”

It was a game in which the Vikings (5-3, 4-0) opened big leads several times, only to have the Panthers come back and make it a contest. VASJ led 14-5 late in the first quarter, but EC trailed just 14-10 after eight minutes. The Vikings led 26-19 at the break, despite Kubuski’s seven second-quarter points.

The Vikings held a 33-23 lead two minutes into the third quarter, but the Panthers tied it at 33 after back-to-back 3-pointers by Kubuski, a putback by Nick Ksenich and a pair of foul shots by Sergio Montanez. It was 39-35 going into the fourth quarter after a Kubuski basket late in the third.

Kubuski drove for a basket, Ksenich scored off a fastbreak and Conor Voreis scored a putback to tie it at 41 with 5:57 left in the game. The Panthers took their first lead of the night, 46-45, on Kubuski’s field goal at 4:45, and it was 48-45 EC after two Voreis foul shots.

In the fourth quarter, the Panthers twice held four-point leads — 51-47 and 53-49 — after Kubuski drilled his fifth and final 3-pointer, then drove for a basket with 3:25 to play.

It was the last time EC scored.

“We try to teach the kids a lot, just basically about life and in the course of everything we’ve used a Bible verse that talks about how suffering produces perseverance, perseverance character and character hope,” Panthers coach Alan Januzzi said.

“What I told the guys tonight is that, really, they’ve been through a lot of adversity and they’ve persevered and I think tonight they became a team of character. And now, we’ve got that hope I think. I think this is something we can build on because VASJ’s obviously a tremendous team that’s very athletic and very well-coached.”

The Vikings took the lead for good, 54-53, when DeMonte Flannigan, a 6-foot-7 freshman, scored a layup with 1:46 to play. Devin Carter, who scored a team-high 17 points, created the final score with a free throw with a minute to play. EC’s Kubuski got off two 3-point attempts in the final 18 seconds, but couldn’t get them to fall.

“Every year when we come out here on Tuesday night it’s a struggle,” Wojciechowski said. “I hope a game like this makes us better. I was glad it was close down the stretch and we found a way to win. I told the guys afterward, anytime you go on the road in the conference and get a win, there’s nothing wrong with that.”

VASJ 55, EC 53

VASJ (55): Jeff Albert 0-0-0, Sidney Weems 4-0-10, Zavier Kane 1-0-2, Devin Carter 6-4-17, Anthony Libertini 0-0-0, Jermaine Williams 0-1-1, Ivory Brooks 0-1-1, Darryl Jones 0-0-0, DeMonte Flannigan 3-0-6, Raysean Dabney 3-0-6, ryan Hooper 0-0-0, Dahuntae Parrish 0-1-1, Jordan Blade 0-0-0, Karlton Garner 4-0-11. Totals: 21-7-55.

EC (53): Joe Januzzi 3-0-7, Joe Dempsey 0-0-0, Andrew Kubuski 11-0-27, Nick Ksenich 2-0-4, Conor Voreis 3-2-8, Adam Kirsch 0-0-0, Spencer Roule 1-0-2, Sergio Montanez 1-2-5. Totals: 21-4-53.

VASJ 14 12 13 16 – 55

EC 10 9 16 18 – 53

Three-point goals: VASJ 6-20 (Garner 3, Weems 2, Carter); EC 7-17 (Kubuski 5, Januzzi, Montanez). Field goals: VASJ 21-51 (41.2 percent); EC 21-55 (38.2 percent). Free throws: VASJ 7-16; EC 4-10. Rebounds: VASJ 37; EC 28. Turnovers: VASJ 18; EC 15. Junior varsity: VASJ, 52-31.

Contact Daniels at 329-7135 or basketball@bobdaniels.info.

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