Staff photo by Travis Rosenau Springfield’s Madden Lendt, center, is surrounded by teammates after hitting the game-winning 3 at the buzzer to lift the Tigers past Cedar Mountain on Tuesday night in a Tomahawk-Valley Conference, Tomahawk Division boys basketball game at Cedar Mountain High School in Morgan.

MORGAN — Springfield freshman Madden Lendt couldn’t have played a better final five seconds of basketball than he did in Tuesday night’s Tomahawk-Valley Conference, Tomahawk Division boys basketball game at Cedar Mountain High School.

First it was his steal off an inbounds pass and timeout with less than five seconds to play. Then, it was his game-winning 3 that banked in at the buzzer to lift the Tigers to a 56-53 win, ending the Cougars’ 14-0 unbeaten streak.

After Lendt’s steal and timeout, the Tigers were looking to get the ball to their hot-handed senior guard Brayden Sturm, who tied the game on a steal for a layup in the final minute. That steal and layup came moments after Sturm and Lendt each made a 3.

But when time’s ticking, things change.

“It wasn’t really the plan,” Lendt said. “We tried to screen down for Sturmy and get him the ball and make a play from there, but [the 3] was what ended up happening.”

The No. 5-ranked Cougars fell for the first time all season, moving to 14-1 overall and 11-1 in the Tomahawk. The No. 7-ranked Tigers improved to 16-1 overall and 10-1 in the conference.

It was one of the more hotly-anticipated boys basketball rematches in the area, and it certainly lived up to that billing. The Cougars held off the Tigers 66-60 in Springfield on Dec. 16, 2024, but this time the Tigers had other plans in mind.

“It’s unbelievable, we’ve been dreaming of this game since we lost to them the first time,” Lendt said. “I was imagining in my head the whole last two minutes of the game and it came down to reality.”

Bryan Buerkle, who finished with 18 points and seven rebounds, was the go-top option for Springfield for much of the game but picked up his fourth foul with 9:13 to play. He left the game after that for a couple of minutes and was forced to take things easier on defense down the stretch. Meanwhile, Sturm and Lendt picked things up on both ends of the floor.

Lendt finished with 18 points, 12 off turnovers, while Sturm had 17 points, nine rebounds and four assists.

Cedar Mountain was led by Blake Schueller’s 17 points, 15 rebounds and four blocks, while Blake Steffl had 15 points, nine assists and eight rebounds. Zach Sandgren added 11 points and five assists for the Cougars.

The Cougars stretched an early lead to 32-20 at halftime after a fast-break layup by Steffl and a Steffl-to-Schueller bucket inside.

Carson Schiller scored inside to open the second half while Schueller made an impact on defense after that with back-to-back blocks on consecutive Springfield trips up the floor. Buerkle was able to break through that defense and got back in the scoring column with a hook shot in the paint.

Schueller answered with a 3 for the largest lead of the night, 37-22.

The Cougars matched that 15-point lead moments later on an open 3 from Aaron Heidemann, but Sturm sank a 3 of his own to have the Tigers down 42-30. The Cougars didn’t allow the Tigers much time to celebrate, however, getting a fast-break layup by Schueller, which also drew a foul and forced a Springfield timeout with 9:37 left to play.

Schueller missed the free throw out of the timeout and a 3 by Lendt moments later made it a single-digit game, 47-36.

Cedar Mountain led 53-43 after a putback by Sandgren, but the Tigers mounted their big comeback in the final two-and-a-half minutes which led to their key Tomahawk win.

If Cedar Mountain and Springfield remain tied in the Tomahawk Division with one loss apiece the rest of the season, the current tiebreaker will see the Minnesota Scores’ QRF Rankings determine the Tomahawk champion. The Tomahawk champion will then play the Valley Division champion at the end of the regular season for the Tomahawk-Valley Conference championship.

For now, the Cougars and Tigers will sit tied at a game a piece in the season series. That is unless they meet again in the Section 2A playoffs, which is certainly possible.

Next up for the Tigers is Lester Prairie, which will travel to Springfield on Friday night for a Tomahawk Division game. Meanwhile the Cougars will host BOLD in a nonconference game Thursday night.