But this time the Bobcats prevailed in a thriller, beating the Tigers 55-49 in a Division III regional semifinal Tuesday night at Twinsburg High School.

Prior to the game, Norwayne senior Joey Raudebaugh was leading his team down the hallway to the floor when he stopped and told his teammates, “This one is going to be different and it will make up for the loss to them in football. It could be close, but we’re going to win it this time.”

Raudebaugh was one of four Bobcats’ starters who were on the football team that lost to Springfield 52-48 in a wild finish in a Division VI, Region 21 final last November.

There was no comeback for Springfield in this one.

Staff photo / Brad Emerine Clay Medvec scores over Norwayne’s Ameer Cunningham, left, and Noah Saal on Tuesday in their Division III regional semifinal.

“We struggled to shoot it from the perimeter against their length, so this wasn’t one of our better shooting nights,” Springfield coach Steve French said. “We were hoping to force more turnovers and score some easy points in transition as well. But that didn’t happen. They did a nice job protecting the ball.”

The Tigers took their final lead, 37-36, on a Beau Brungard 3-pointer with 1:26 left in the third period. The quarter produced six lead changes and a tie before Norwayne took a 42-39 lead into the fourth period.

Springfield, which finished 23-4, tied it at 44 on an Adam Wharry free throw with 4:15 left.

But the Bobcats scored the next four points and took a 52-47 lead with 1:28 left on the last of Jacob Rupp’s three consecutive baskets. It followed a scramble for the ball out front that left the Tigers out of position defensively.

“We had some looks down the stretch that just wouldn’t go down for us,” French said. “But we left it all on the floor. Their length hurt us inside, too. We handled it pretty well in the first half, but they started working their way into the low post more often in the third quarter and it was tough to stop them.”

Staff photo / Brad Emerine Alex Rothwell of Springfield waits to pass to a teammate coming off a low-post screen.

Springfield then misfired on 3-point attempts in its next three possessions. Still Wharry made a pair of free throws with 19 seconds left to make it 52-49 before Justin Rupp made two free throws and his brother Jacob split a pair to conclude the scoring.

“We had a great season and I couldn’t be prouder of these boys,” French said. “We’ve got eight seniors and we’re losing two starters. But like someone in our administration said this was probably our best run of boys basketball seasons since like 1968 and ’69.

“We’ve been to two regionals in the past three years and in three district championship games. I really like what we’ve done and I think we can continue on the path. We’ll need some guys to step into bigger roles next year, but we’ve got three starters back.”