FLAWLESS FORM — Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman/Martin Luther’s Carter Fox elevates and fires a jumper during non-league basketball action Thursday night in Truman. The Jaguars’ Braeden Shell (4), along with the Coyotes’ Sam Goedtke (0) and Timothy Salentiny (far left), watch the shot. (Photo by Greg Abel)

TRUMAN — Freshman guard Eli Jensen sank two massive shots to end regulation and one in overtime to help the Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman/Martin Luther Jaguars defeat the Heron Lake-Okabena/Fulda Coyotes 68-63 on Thursday night in Truman.

The Jaguars got out to a fast start, holding a 9-2 lead early in the first half before the Coyotes called a timeout and proceeded to go on a run to take the lead 14-12.

Senior big man Carter Fox was doing it all for the Jaguars, totaling 17 points to go with his 15 boards and nine assists in the win.

Jaguars head coach Brian Borkenhagen was proud of the senior’s playmaking and all-around game.

“I mean he’s really become more of a playmaker especially the second half of the season. You know as a junior he wasn’t really getting the assists, but here lately that’s really become a big part of his game and recently he has been scoring as well so he’s stepped it up across the board,” Borkenhagen said.

It was truly a duel between each side’s senior leaders.

Senior Sam Goedtke had it rolling all night for the Coyotes, dropping 26 points on the night, but the Jaguars’ defense limited him to shooting just 1 of 5 from the field in the overtime to get the win.

He was joined by senior post player Logan Gass, who had a double-double with 10 points and 11 boards in the loss.

Fellow senior Timothy Salentiny ended the night with an efficient 13 points to go with his seven rebounds and seven steals for the Coyotes.

The turning point of the game came late in the second half. With 1:45 remaining, Jensen drilled a 3-pointer from the right wing for the Jaguars to cut the Coyotes’ lead to 59-56.

With just 30 seconds on the clock, Fox found Jensen on the left wing again. Jensen let it fly and after a high bounce off the front of the rim, the game was tied at 61.

In the overtime period, Jensen nailed yet another 3-ball with 2:35 remaining to give the Jaguars a 66-63 advantage.

With just 10 seconds left in the extra session, sophomore Brody Grathwohl streaked down the lane and laid it in to put the game to bed, 68-63.

With the loss, Heron Lake-Okabena/Fulda (3-20) will look to get a win at 6 p.m. tonight against Westbrook-Walnut Grove in Westbrook.

As for the Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman/Martin Luther Jaguars (11-15), the regular season has come to an end.

The Jaguars will await the results of the Section 2A seeding meeting to determine their playoff foe.

HLOF        26-35-2–63

GTML       27-34-5–68

GHEC/T/ML (68)

Fox 7-16 3-8 17, Jensen 4-9 0-0 12, Madsen 5-12 0-0 10, Grathwohl 5-7 0-0 10, Brudelie 3-5 1-6 7, Borkenhagen 3-14 0-0 7, Shell 1-5 0-0 3, C. Hastad 1-2 0-0 2.

HLOF (63)

Goedtke 9-20 7-9 26, Salentiny 4-7 1-2 13, Hakeneis 5-16 1-1 12, Gass 5-10 0-2 10, Smith 1-3 0-0 2, Nielson 0-5 0-0 0, Ethridge 0-1 0-0 0.

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Belle Plaine 62, Fairmont 54 — The Tigers used an eight-point second-half scoring edge to snap a halftime tie and net the non-league win over the Cardinals on Thursday night in Belle Plaine.

Ethan Martin tallied a game-best 19 points to top Belle Plaine (19-6), while Teddy Traxler and Austin Kehr contributed 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Levi Pooley connected for five 3-pointers to pace his 17-point outing to top Fairmont’s effort, while teammate Oliver Tordsen supplied 13 points.

Logan Junkermeier grabbed eight rebounds for the Cardinals, Blaze Geiger and Hadan Toomer distributed four assists apiece, while Nolan Schultze and Joseph Hackett chipped in six points each.

The Cardinals made 10 of 29 shots from 2-point range and 11 of 20 behind the 3-point arc, but hit only 1 of 5 at the free throw line.

Fairmont (12-13) plays St. James at 12:30 p.m. Saturday in a Big South Showcase game in St. James.

Joe Long scored 21 points and Tavian Harvey contributed 19 more to engineer Fairmont’s 80-61 win over Belle Plaine during B-squad action Thursday night.

Brett Williams netted 13 points for the Cardinals, while Jordan Thompson added nine points.

Fairmont downed Belle Plaine, 61-38, during C-squad action Thursday night.

Josh Soelter tallied 18 points to pace the Cardinals’ winning ways, while Brayden Williamson chipped in 17 points.