CROWLEY – Northside Christian battled throughout but a 13-point halftime deficit was too much to overcome as they fell to Phoenix, 55-43, in a Class C quarterfinal contest at Seth Trahan Memorial gym Tuesday.

“We gave a great effort tonight,” said NCS coach Byron Starks, whose team finished the season with a mark of 22-8. “The scored 82 points against the defending state champion (Pleasant Hill) last week and we held them to 55. We gave them a good battle, we just couldn’t manufacture enough points to match their effort.”

Northside trailed 34-21 at the half and made a run to cut the lead to six midway through the third quarter.

But Phoenix (33-5) answered the run with a 3-pointer and took a 44-36 advantage after the third quarter.

From there, the Spartans went on to outscore the Warriors 11-7 in the final period to hang on for the victory.

Kade Miller and Ben Rogers led the Warriors with 19 and 7 points, respectively.

“Kade had a big game,” said Stark of Miller, who scored eight points in the Warriors’ third-quarter rally. “He got his hands on a lot of balls, got some steals and was able to convert them into easy layups.

“Ben kind of had a difficult night. He didn’t score at all in the second half. They (Phoenix) did a really good job and zoned in on him but he gave us a great effort.”

Joseph Trahan added six points in the loss, Josh Wheeler and Nick Gotte each scored five and Nicholas Zaunbrecher finished with one.

“You know, this was a great season for us,” said Starks. “It was a milestone for us. What we accomplished last year and this year, these are building blocks. And it’s a testament to the foundation of the program and the effort of the kids.

“I can only seeing things getting better in the future. We have a good bunch coming back and a lot of good kids coming up in the program so I think we’re on the right track.”