MANKATO — After cutting a 10-point deficit at the three-minute mark to one point, the NRHEG boys’ basketball team had the ball with nine seconds left.

However, the Panthers’ comeback fell short, and No. 6 Maple River outlasted No. 7 NRHEG 64-63 Wednesday in the Subsection 2AA South finals at Minnesota State University, Mankato.

The loss snapped the Panthers’ six-game winning streak and ended their season.

“I am so proud of my team,” said NRHEG coach Pat Churchill. “They fought all year long and worked tremendously hard. When you have a team go 23-5, it’s tough to see them go.”

Spencer Tollefson and Oakley Baker led the Panthers with 19 points each. Tollefson posted a team-high nine rebounds, and Baker added eight.

Macoy Schwierjohann posted a team-high six assists to go with nine points and six rebounds.

The game featured the top two teams in the Gopher Conference standings. Maple River (26-3, 10-2 Gopher) was the conference champion, and NRHEG (23-5, 9-3) was the runner-up.

During the regular season, Maple River won 70-66 on Dec. 12 at New Richland and 85-74 on Jan. 27 at Mapleton.

In the postseason rematch, Maple River led 21-17 at halftime.

“The first half was a defensive war between two really good teams,” Churchill said. “I felt that our defense and their defense was outstanding to start the game, and we both had a hard time getting much going offensively.”

To start the second half, NRHEG went on a 6-0 run to take a 25-23 lead, Churchill said. Maple River responded with a 10-0 run, and the Panthers rallied at the end of regulation.

NRHEG’s longest winning streak was from Dec. 29, 2014, to Jan. 23, when the team went 9-0.

The Panthers had eight seniors: Trevor Tracy, Brady Beenken, Schwierjohann, Kelson Titus, Tollefson, Colton Hagen, Andy Shutrop and Kevin Kalis.

“I am going to miss that crew,” Churchill said. “They were tremendous basketball players, leaders and people.”