Eudora's Mark Abel, left, drives against Gardner-Edgerton's Zack Carlton. The Cardinals lost, 41-40, Tuesday night in Eudora.

Emporia ? Rodney Spillman’s only sin was hitting the toughest shot he saw Tuesday night.

He would have gladly traded it for the two earlier ones that didn’t go in Eudora High’s 41-40 loss Tuesday to Gardner-Edgerton in Frontier League boys basketball action.

Receiving a full-court inbounds pass, Spillman turned toward the sideline and drained a fadeaway three-pointer with just .4 seconds remaining.

Earlier, with his team trailing by two, the Cardinals’ go-to guy down the stretch found himself unlucky on a pair of shots. The senior missed the front end of a one-and-one with 26 seconds left, then had a four-footer rattle out with five ticks remaining.

“I felt that I wanted the ball and I could make a shot,” Spillman said. “The shot didn’t fall that I needed to fall.”

The misfortune ruined what was otherwise a dominating quarter for Spillman, who had 11 of the team’s 14 points in the final eight minutes.

Eudora's Rodney Spillman (23) shoots against a Gardner-Edgerton defender.

The senior finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds.

“He was the reason we were in the game,” Eudora coach Kyle Deterding said. “He single-handedly in the first half got a couple steals and had some baskets.”

Eudora’s slow start might have had more to do with the loss than its cold-shooting finish. The Cardinals had nine turnovers in the opening eight minutes while managing only five shots.

“We just had no rhythm,” Deterding said. “We had nobody that wanted to take control. We’re lucky we played our tails off on defense because we were still in the game.”

Despite mustering just one field goal – a layin from Spillman – Eudora trailed just 9-3 after the opening frame.

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Guard Mark Abel showed some flash to help the Cardinals get out of an offensive funk in the second quarter. With time winding down, the senior threw a one-handed blind pass over his head to brother Matthew Abel, who drilled a three to cut the halftime deficit to 16-15.

The Cardinals scored nine straight points following the break but again went cold from the field during a 20-6 Trailblazer run.

Mark Abel added eight points in the team’s first home loss.