The number of NBA range 3-pointers Cedar Rapids Prairie nailed would have nearly guaranteed the sweet taste of victory in almost any other boys basketball game.

But Dubuque Senior kept a lock on the kitchen door Tuesday night.

Although they nearly broke down the door several times, Prairie was defeated by No. 3 Senior, 65-62, at the Prairie gym.

Prairie dug itself out of holes, sunk back into them, and then climbed out again.

There were several occasions when the game could have gotten out of hand, and Senior could have run away with the lead. But Prairie found a way to hang around, and even had a shot to tie the game as the final buzzer sounded.

“We just needed a couple of extra balls to bounce our way to win this game,” said Prairie Coach James Moses.

Down five points with seven seconds left in the game, Prairie point guard Jace Hanna nailed a long 3-pointer from the top of the arc. Prairie quickly fouled and sent Senior to the line for two shots in the bonus.

After Senior made both foul shots, extending its lead to four, Prairie pushed the ball down the court and Hanna hit another three with 2.5 seconds left. Prairie fouled again and Senior converted one of the two free throws. Hanna raced down the court and misfired as the buzzer sounded.

All of Prairie’s players showed this resilient and no-quit mentality throughout the evening.

“Sometimes a testament of a man is how you fight. It was nice to see our team battle and fight and we did start to value every possession and started closing the gap. Dubuque Senior is a heck of a team and they execute very well,” said Moses.

Senior played pesky man-to-man defense all night and forced Prairie to commit turnovers and settle for less than desirable shots.

Senior (9-0, 6-0) stymied Prairie’s offensive rhythm early in the game, as the Prairie Hawks only scored seven points in the first quarter and 20 in the first half.

However, there was always a constant unknown about who would end up victorious.

Prairie (5-5, 2-4) came out shooting at the beginning of the second half, and took the lead 32-31 with two minutes left in the 3rd quarter. Dubuque proceeded to go on a 12-4 run that pushed its lead to eight in the middle of the fourth quarter.

There still was no way to distinguish a winner until the clock read 0.0.

“We had to challenge their tempo and challenge their comfort zone. The times when we were able to do it we were able to get back into the game and the times that we didn’t, they prevailed,” said Moses.

Prairie was able to stay in the game largely in part because of its 3-point shooting. The Hawks connected 10 times from long range, with Thomas Eilers accounting for five and Hanna hitting two.

Hanna finished with a team high 18 points and Eilers chipped in 17.

“We are just trying to close the gap. We are working and learning because there was a period of time where we accepted mediocrity and now that is unacceptable. Now we are just willing to challenge and willing to fight,” said Moses.

DUBUQUE SENIOR (65): Domen Zevnik 2 6-6 11, Kyle Haber 7 5-6 20, Josh Weeber 5 5-8 16, Connor Grant 5 2-2 12, Seth Bonifas 1 2-4 4, Kyle Holdrigde 0 2-2 2, Mitch Duve 0 0-0 0, Drew Anderson 0 0-0 0  Totals 20 22-28 65.

PRAIRIE (62): Jacob Aune 2 0-0 4, Jace Hanna 6 4-4 18, Brooks Kehoe 1 0-0 3, Thomas Eilers 6 0-0 17, Matthew MacDougall 5 2-2 13, DeMetrius Harper 2 0-0 4, Kentrel Smith 1 0-0 3, Bryce Meeker 0 0-0 0  Totals 23 6-6 62.

Halftime - Senior 27, Prairie 20.  3-points goals - Senior 3 (Zevnik, Haber, Weeber), Prairie 10 (Eilers 5, Hanna 2, Kehoe, MacDougall, Smith).