By CONOR NICHOLL

cnicholl@dailynews.net

LA CROSSE -- La Crosse and Ness City, located in neighboring counties half an hour apart, have yielded a strong rivalry and thrilling contests throughout the years, including two in boys' basketball this winter.

"It's pretty intense," Ness City coach Londy Londerholm said. "I know the guys talk about this is one of the teams they would like to beat. They are very competitive with each other. They are pretty close to each other. A lot of them are friends. Some of them are maybe not so close."

In front of a packed gym Friday night at La Crosse High School, La Crosse won 55-53 when senior Marcus Moeder drove the lane, was fouled and sank two free throws with 1.6 seconds left. Ness City advanced the ball past halfcourt, but junior John Clarke's 3-pointer at the buzzer was short.

"It's a lot of fun I think," La Crosse coach Rob Holopirek said. "I tell the kids, 'This is what high school basketball should be like.' You should get after it. The fans should get into it. It makes it fun. I really enjoy it."

La Crosse (7-8) moved to 2-1 against Ness City this season. In the season's second contest, Ness City defeated the Leopards 55-27 in the WaKeeney tournament. Eight days later, the Leopards won 61-59 when Moeder found sophomore Austin Webs for a game-winning buzzer-beater. On Friday, the Leopards ran a similar isolation play, but this time, Moeder kept the ball and tacked on the final two of his game-high 19 points.

"He made some tough free throws," Londerholm said. "The kid's a winner. He likes to win."

The contest yielded two contrasting rosters and styles. La Crosse, with no seniors that see consistent playing time, has one returning starter (Moeder) and is a guard-heavy, fast-paced team with no player taller than 6-foot-1.

Ness City has six seniors with several big forwards, including 6-2 senior Skyler Kraft (12 points, team-high six rebounds). Ness City took a 14-12 lead after the first quarter. Then La Crosse, sparked by junior Scott Irvin, had a 14-2 run to start the second quarter.

After a basket from Leopard freshman Kip Keeley tied the game at 14, Irvin drove down the left side, sank a layup and drew the foul. He converted the three-point play -- and gave La Crosse a lead it wouldn't lose.

"Scott played his heart out tonight," Moeder said. "He really stepped up and took over a leader role."

After a Webs 3-pointer, Irvin made a midcourt steal and passed to Moeder for a trey. Then, Irvin had a backcourt steal and converted another three-point play that pushed the Leopards' lead to 26-16. Irvin, who averages 5.4 points a game, hadn't scored more than 11 points all season. He tallied 11 in the quarter on 4-of-5 shooting, but wouldn't score the rest of the game.

"He made some really good plays for us," Holopirek said. "He had a stretch there where he couldn't do anything wrong. It was fun to see. The kid works hard. I like to see him have success. Real aggressive kid. That's just his personality. He is real aggressive. Sometimes it gets him in a little trouble, but it's good for the most part."

La Crosse led 37-24 at the half, but Holopirek told his players Ness City (9-7) would make a surge. Ness City, helped by strong inside play and two 3s from Clarke (team-high 15 points) cut the deficit to two entering the fourth quarter.

"They are a really good shooting team and good shooting teams are going to make runs," Holopirek said. "How are you going to respond?"

Ness City tied the game at 53 with 14 seconds left on a Clarke 3 from the top of the key. On the game-winning possession, Ness City wanted to guard Moeder with senior Joe Flax, the team's best defender. Other Eagles would provide help. The 5-10 Moeder crossed midcourt, made a left-handed dribble, went past Flax and drew the foul.

"Just an iso play, if I get fouled then I get fouled," Moeder said. "If not, then try to make a play with the ball."

Moeder, La Crosse's top free throw shooter at 64 percent, wasn't nervous.

"We work on it every day in practice because we go through situational stuff," he said. "It was just like being in practice."

Moeder made both foul shots, sealing another close victory in the rivalry.

"It's huge," Moeder said. "We have been rivals with Ness City for who knows how long and it's just great to get a win over them."

Ness City Girls 37

La Crosse 20

Ness City (8-8) never had trouble in a low-scoring game as La Crosse tallied its fewest points all season. The Eagles led 9-2 after the first quarter and 20-5 at the half. La Crosse (9-6) didn't reach double digits until the fourth quarter.

Junior Taylor Dinges led the Eagles with 15 points, while senior Ashley Parrott paced the Leopards with eight. La Crosse had beaten Ness City 35-28 and 43-38 earlier this season.