Staff photo/ Brian Yauger Badger freshman Jack Harnett goes up for a shot while being defended by Heartland Christian’s Will Morgan.

VERNON — A historic Badger season came to a close on Friday, as the Braves were sunk by a sluggish first half in a 72-65 loss to Heartland Christian.

“Just like I told them in the locker room, that’s on me,” Badger coach Josh Upshire said. “I didn’t have them prepared to play. It is what it is. … This one’s on me. Can’t say enough about our seniors, as I always say, the seniors have turned this program around, and they’ve got the program to where it is. I can’t thank them enough. I’m going to go home and take a look in the mirror and see what the next step is.”

Senior Duncan Moy was swarmed from the opening tip, and it took a while for him to find his groove. Held off the scoresheet in the first half, the senior still finished with 21 points and dragged the team out of a 17-point deficit in the fourth quarter.

“Everybody sees what he does on the basketball court. We’re going to miss what Duncan does off of the basketball court, too. The stuff he does in the community and everything he does for our program — we’re going to miss that too. I’m going to miss those leadership qualities that he has off the court just as much or maybe even more so,” Upshire said.

The Braves were in foul trouble early and it set the tone for the rest of the game. With Bryce Gross and Lewis Flowers, two of the team’s best on-ball defenders, sidelined for much of the first three quarters, Heartland Christian was able to let the ball fly.

That cascaded in the third quarter when the Lions scored 28 points.

With no one real “guy” on the roster, Heartland Christian operates by committee. And there are several guys that can bury you.

Isaiah Matthews (10 points) Collin Kalaher (12), Jake Walker (12), Will Morgan (24) all reached double figures on the night.

“They battled, they worked their butts off,” Lions coach Josh Scott said. “This group, it’s been a dream season for us because nobody really (believed in us). We don’t really have a Duncan Moy. A couple of years ago, we had Jonathan Bertovich, who’s at Geneva now. We don’t really have that guy. We just have a bunch of guys that want to work real hard.”

Heartland Christian (15-9) advances to the district semifinals at Grand Valley High School to take on Bristol.

Badger’s season ends at 16-7.

The program isn’t leaving with Moy. There’s a solid base remaining, including sophomores Preston Geracitano (15 points), Flowers (seven points), and freshman Jack Harnett (14 points).

It’s on them to fill in for Moy now.

“We have a solid core coming back, and I’m very excited for it,” Upshire said. “The middle school program is going in the right direction, our youth program is going in the right direction, but at the end of the day, you still have to put time in. If you don’t put time in, then it’s going to pass you by, but I think we’re headed in the right direction.”

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