The No. 13 Wapello Indian boys basketball team saw their season come to an end in heartbreaking fashion in Tuesday’s class 1A district seven championship game against No. 5 Easton Valley 50-48 in double overtime in Clinton. The River Hawk defense made things tough on Wapello early, holding the Indians to just four first quarter points as they built an early advantage of six. Wapello answered back in the second frame to pull within 20-18 at half. Out of the break it was the Wapello defense that dug in, holding Easton Valley to just seven in the third to give the Indians a slim 28-27 lead going to the final quarter. In the fourth, the two teams stayed tight with Easton Valley leading by a pair with just 25 seconds remaining. On the final possession of regulation, the Indians got a tip in to send the game to overtime.

In the first extra frame the two teams remained toe to toe and this time it was Wapello’s turn to have a late lead. With the Indians up two and just six seconds left, the River Hawks went coast to coast with Carson Fuegen supplying the game tying bucket at the buzzer to send the game to OT number two. In the last extra frame, Easton Valley did their damage at the line and came up with a final stop to win by two.

Easton Valley shot 52% for the game to Wapello’s 40%. The Indians pulled down 27 rebounds, dished out 17 assists, had 12 steals and committed 10 turnovers. Kaleb Cornilsen led Easton Valley with 22 points. Maddox Griffin and Caden Thomas each had 16 points for Wapello, Trent Murray added 13. With the loss, the Indians end their season at 16-4, and say goodbye to seniors Griffin Mears, Trent Murray, Briar Holmes, Hector Zepeda, Caden Thomas, Dawson Holmes and Rhett Smith. Easton Valley remains unbeaten at 21-0 and will play for a state tournament bid Saturday at Maquoketa against New London.