Eudora ? Seven Eudora players were honored on senior night Friday at EHS but it was junior Kaleb Niedens who stole the show with five three-pointers in a 64-55 win over Paola.

“It started flowing and it’s easy to shoot when they keep going in,” Niedens said. “I think the crowd gets you up and gives you a little extra boost.”

Class 4A Eudora (10-8 overall, 4-4 Frontier League) continued its roller coaster season by defeating the 5A Panthers (12-7, 6-2) only three days after an embarrassing loss to 3A Silver Lake (5-13).

Friday’s victory improved the Cardinals’ chances of playing host to a first-round game in substate.

EHS Coach Scott Stein attributed the Cardinals resurgence to the automatic shooting of Niedens and senior Lear Bowling, who scored most of his team-high 16 points from the outside.

“Tonight we shot well and that made the difference,” Stein said. “This win doesn’t do anything we have games next week.”

Eudora also shined on the defensive end as it held Paola’s all-league senior David Ward to a quiet 18 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter. When senior Zac Tyler, a defensive specialist, found himself in foul trouble, Niedens and junior Dustin Moyer kept Ward in check. Ward only scored four points in the first quarter and was shut down completely in the second.

Paola didn’t make a field goal until 4:03 in the first quarter.

“I said before the game that we had to hold him (Ward) under 20,” Stein said. “We frustrated him in the first half.”

With the score tied at 10 late in the first quarter, the Cardinals started a 9-0 run behind a three-pointer from senior Tommy Shutt and two from Niedens. The momentum carried Eudora through the second quarter as sophomore Tyler Cleveland, who finished with nine assists, continually fed the ball to senior Wes Hinman in the low post. Hinman finished with 14 points.

Eudora led 31-22 at halftime. Paola crept back into the game as junior Andy Miller knocked down a pair of three-pointers at the end of the third quarter.

Paola senior Nick Green, who scored a game-high 24 points, and Ward, the wide receiver-quarterback duo who spoiled the Cardinals perfect regular season in football on Aug. 31, looked as if they were going to play the spoiler role again. The Panthers cut the 19-point lead to four before Niedens hit his fifth and most important three-pointer of the game.

The football loss was still fresh in the mind of many of the Cardinals since eight players on the roster also played on the gridiron.

“I wanted to beat them because of that, but any league game is big,” Niedens said. “I think the win helped us out with our confidence.”

The Cards were forced to go to the free-throw line for the first time in the game with 1:06 left. Despite recent woes from the charity stripe against Baldwin and Osawatomie, the Cardinals made six of seven down the stretch.

Eudora will host 3A Oskaloosa on Tuesday.

Eudroa 64, Paola 55

EUDORA: Lear Bowling 16, Jason Burrous 6, Tyler Cleveland 8, Wes Hinman 14, Kaleb Niedens 15, Tommy Shutt 3, Tommy Stein 2.

PAOLA: Nick Green 24, Eric Lovig 2, Andy Miller 6, T.J. Morris 2, David Ward 18, Isaac Yurchak 3.

Eudora 16 15 18 15 64

Paola 10 12 14 19 55