Eudora ? All the Ottawa High boys basketball team needed to do was foul Friday night against Eudora.

A simple hold of an arm or a grab around the waist would have sufficed, with the Cyclones having two fouls to give.

Ottawa coach David Grover was aware of that fact, but apparently his team was not.

“There’s just absolutely no excuse for what transpired in the last six seconds,” Grover said.

Ottawa’s lapse turned into a clip from Mark Abel’s highlight reel. The Eudora junior guard swished a three-point shot with seconds left to give his team a stunning 58-56 victory.

EHS coach Scott Stein’s first preference was to send the ball down low to forward Joe Kaup, but that changed when Ottawa came out of a timeout showing a zone defense.

“As soon as it came in, we had foul orders, but we didn’t do it,” said Grover, whose team successfully had executed the hack-a-Cardinal strategy three consecutive times prior to the final play.

Eudora’s Jeremie Bryant found Abel, one of the team’s top marksmen, all alone just a few feet away.

“I didn’t see anybody, so I was like, ‘All right, I got to shoot,'” Abel said.

Abel did a curl, shot the ball, and then watched his team celebrate.

Eudora (4-11) needed this.

“It’s a great win for us,” Stein said. “We’ve had some real frustrations. We’ll see what it does, but hopefully it gives us a lot of momentum.”

Added Abel: “It’s definitely going to lift us.”

Grover, meanwhile, hopes to erase Friday from memory.

“I don’t know how you learn from that,” Grover said. “That’s just a bitter pill to swallow.”

Abel tied Kaup for team-high scoring honors with 14 points apiece. The Cyclones (7-8) were driven by guard Addison Miller and his 24 points.

The Cardinals outscored the Cyclones 17-8 in the fourth quarter after being topped 19-9 in the third.

Ottawa girls 53, Eudora 32

Poor shooting and a lack of rebounding led to a long night for the Cardinals’ girls, who had registered just 10 points at the half.

Eudora (5-10) was outscored 15-1 in the first quarter alone, and Ottawa, one of the state’s top squads, rolled from there.

“They’ve got multiple scoring weapons, and we don’t,” Eudora coach Cara Kimberlin said.

OHS coach Cliff McCullough primarily used his bench early in the first quarter, and the Cyclone offensive scheme never missed a beat.

“That’s valuable experience for them,” said McCullough, adding that his team had lacked a good rotation in recent games.

Ottawa senior Kelsie Studley had a team-high 15 points. Eudora’s Carrie Lister led her team with eight.

The Eudora teams will play host to Wellsville on Monday in makeup games, while the Ottawa squads take on Gardner-Edgerton at home on the same day.