A devastatingly rough start to the fourth quarter undid three strong quarters of work Friday for the Flanagan-Cornell boys basketball team, a tie game through three quarters ending in a 67-50 Heart of Illinois Conference loss to visiting Heyworth after eight of the Falcons’ first nine fourth-quarter possessions ended in turnovers.

“You might have missed one. It felt like nine of nine,” Flanagan-Cornell coach Brian Yoder said. “How [Tremont] plays, you saw how they trap. That’s tough pressure, but it’s good for our young kids to see. ...

“We’re getting there. Our goal is four [good] quarters, but let’s try for three and a half next time.”

The Flanagan-Cornell/Woodland girls team, too, had a competitive start slip away into a lopsided loss in the first of two varsity Hornets vs. Falcons HOIC games Friday, FCW’s girls falling 61-25.

Boys: Heyworth 67, Flanagan-Cornell 50

It was a fantastic, back-and-forth matchup for the opening three quarters, with Flanagan-Cornell (6-14 overall, 0-5 HOIC) bitten by the turnover bug throughout but overcoming it behind a big scoring night from freshman point guard Eli Kapraun, who scored 17 first-quarter points on his way to a game-high 24 with teammate and Falcons leading scorer Logan Ruddy face-guarded throughout.

“My teammates help me out a lot, give me the confidence to go to the rim,” said Kapraun, who also tallied three assists and five steals on the evening. “And when people think, ‘Logan Ruddy, Logan Ruddy, you’ve got to guard Logan Ruddy,’ I take offense to that. I feel like I’m getting underestimated. ...

“Tonight, we just couldn’t stop [Heyworth] in the end, and we kept turning the ball over. And I’ll take a lot of the blame for that. That’s just something I’ve got to get better at.”

Ruddy was limited to an uncharacteristically low seven shot attempts through three quarters and 15 points on the night, making it a double-double with his 10 rebounds and four blocked shots. Cody Pinkerton pitched in seven points for Flanagan-Cornell, which led 15-13 through one quarter before 30-30 and 41-41 ties at the close of the next two quarters.

The fourth quarter – which saw the defensive pressure of Heyworth (12-12 overall, 3-3 HOIC) finally wear down the Falcons, leading to 11 fourth-quarter F-C turnovers and repeated easy layups at the other end – got out of hand quickly.

The Hornets opened the final period with a 9-0 run and never looked back, Boston Katz (15 points, six rebounds, five steals off the bench) at the center of the damage alongside starter Chase Ruppert (18 points, four steals). The two combined for 17 of Heyworth’s 26 fourth-quarter points.

“In the fourth quarter, it snowballed a little bit,” Hornets coach Brandon Martin said. “Our pressure got to them more and more and more, we got a few steals, and then we really started ramping it up. ...

“Once we can get out and run a little bit, we’ve got the athletes where we can really go.”

The Falcons finished with 28 turnovers and shot 38.3% (18 of 47) from the field compared to the Hornets’ 13 turnovers and 44.3% (27 of 61) shooting.

Girls: Heyworth 61, FCW 25

The host Falcons (9-14 overall, 1-8 HOIC) stayed within striking distance of the Hornets (20-6 overall, 6-2 HOIC) into the second quarter, trailing only 16-10 until the visitors pieced together a 14-0 run in the second and outscored FCW 24-1 in the third to run away with Heart of Illinois Conference victory.

Emma Palaschak scored 11 points to lead FCW’s six-player roster. Ava Price (six steals, five rebounds) and Kora Edens (nine rebounds) added five points apiece for the Falcons, who still lost the turnover battle 22-19 despite Jaylei Leininger tallying four steals and Heyworth’s reserves committing 10 in the fourth quarter alone with the game well in hand.

“This was a rough one,” FCW coach Danielle Pollitt said, “but this team, I just feel like we’ve got a good connection. Everyone gets along, we have fun, and no matter what our record is, they’re trying to make each other better. ...

“As we showed last year [winning a regional championship with a sub-.500 record], really it’s the postseason where it happens. We still have that to look forward to. We just have to get better every game, and when we hit the postseason, everyone starts over.”

Heyworth’s Karissa Cook canned four 3-pointers in the third quarter on her way to a game-high 29 points, with Alia Riddle adding 17.