Carroll (13-11) fell short of its quest for a regional victory as Guerin Catholic (15-11) defeated the Cougars 70-60 in the Saturday afternoon session of the Tipton Regional 10.

Carroll never led, but fought hard throughout the game. Every time the Cougars made a run to take the lead, the Golden Eagles answered with a run of their own to pull away, keeping Carroll at bay.

“From the films we looked at we knew they (Guerin) played well with the lead,” said Cougar Coach Jeff Hodson, “and we would have to get a quick start. The first quarter just killed us. We played them even the final three quarters and made a few runs, but never could get over the hump.”

Guerin opened the game with a 10 to 2 run and led 16-6 after the first period. The Johnson brothers – Seth and Riley – were the only Cougars to score in the quarter. Seth had 4 points and Riley, 2 points. Carroll shot only 23% in the quarter on 3 of 13 from the field and 0 of 5 on three-point attempts.

The Cougars did not stay down long. A pair of treys by Tim Ruby and R. Johnson’s two baskets pulled Carroll to within 4 at 20-16. A quick trey by Guerin had the Golden Eagles up 23-16, but treys by Noah Allen and Eric Miller and a basket by R. Johnson made it a 2-point game at 27-25 with just over two minutes left in the half. The rest of the half was Guerin, outscoring Carroll 7 to 2 for a 34- 27 halftime lead.

The Cougars started the second half by forcing Guerin into 5 straight turnovers. Two-pointers by Allen and Drew Yoder and a trey by Miller gave Carroll a 7-0 run to tie the game at 34. Guerin went to work and scored 11 answered points to take a 45-34 lead. Carroll came back with 4 points by S. Johnson and a basket by Kyle Geheb to pull to within 5 at 45-40. This was as close as the score would get. Guerin added a bucket and the score was 47-40 after three quarters.

S. Johnson’s two pointer pulled Carroll to within 6 at 49-43. From here Guerin pushed its lead back out to 14 points, 60-46, the biggest of the game. The Golden Eagles kept the Cougars at bay with 12 of 15 free throw shooting in the final period.

Geheb led Carroll with 14 points, 10 in the final quarter. Seth and Riley Johnson had 10 points each and Allen added 9 points. Carroll was out rebounded by 10, 32-22 as R. Johnson had 7 boards. The Cougars were 23 of 51, 42% from the field, and 7 of 14, 50% from the line. Guerin was 25 of 55, 46% from the field, and 14 of 21, 67% from the line.

Southwood upset Fort Wayne Bishop Luers (14- 10) 70-68 in the opener on Saturday. Southwood (18-6) then defeated Guerin Catholic 86-72 in the championship game.