Blue Valley Northwest made sure it didn’t happen again. 

Three days after blowing a double-digit fourth-quarter lead and hanging on for a 59-58 win at Blue Valley, the Huskies saw their 15-point lead entering the final frame at St. Thomas Aquinas Friday whittled to seven. 

This time, though, there was no drama, as Northwest dominated down the stretch and posted a 66-53 win. Darien Jackson scored 12 of his game-high 25 points in the final three minutes, keeping the Saints at bay and Northwest atop the East Kansas League standings. 

“We just have a habit of making things interesting,” Northwest coach Ed Fritz said. “When we have the opportunity to put people away, we aren’t doing it, but that’s a credit to Aquinas and a credit to (Aquinas) coach Reilly.”

Blue Valley Northwest (11-3, 6-2 EKL) led 45-27 late in the third, then the Saints responded with a 14-2 run, Angelo Allegri scoring six of his 16 points to spur Aquinas and bring the home crowd alive for the first time. 

The Saints (8-6, 3-5) stayed within single digits the rest of the fourth until Jackson took control. A recruit of schools such as Iowa and Kansas State, Jackson hit eight free throws and made two baskets, one off a great pass from JaMichael Morgan. 

“In this league, anybody can lose to anybody on any given night,” Morgan said. “Every team is good and every team can make a run. Whether it’s to start the game or end the game, you know a run is going to happen. When they made their run, we stepped it up on defense. In practice we spend a lot of time on defense and practice situations where we’re down 20 and have to come back from that. When they go on a run, we can come back and hold them off.”

Northwest jumped out to a 13-4 first-quarter lead and held a double-digit lead for most of the second and all of the third, using an aggressive half-court defense to keep Aquinas out of sync on offense. 

“Their speed sped us up and we got out of our rhythm and played at their tempo,” Reilly said. “We struggled with turnovers in the half-court. They made it difficult in the passing lanes and our guards and wing players did not execute at that time. We get down 11-2 and then we’re fighting back all night. They took away our strength of our half-court offense, and that’s a credit to them.” 

Ben Hagenkord scored 17 points to pace the Saints, who shot just 9 of 17 from the free-throw line and missed several shots in the lane. 

“You’ve got to make your scoring opportunities count,” Reilly said. “Going 9 of 17 is too many empty scoring opportunities. And if we miss a layup and they come down and score, that’s a four-point swing. … Not to take anything away from them, but if we take care of our own business, the outcome could be different.”

Morgan scored 10 of his 12 points after the break for Northwest, and Joseph Pleasant finished with 11 points to put three Huskies in double figures. 

Northwest is tied with Bishop Miege for the EKL lead heading into Tuesday’s home game vs. Gardner-Edgerton. The Huskies host Miege Friday. 

“We didn’t do some things fundamentally, like box out, but we regrouped the last couple of minutes and ended up the moving the ball too fast for them and made our foul shots, so I’m happy with that,” Fritz said. “We showed poise down the stretch. When we have everybody playing well at the same time, we’re going to be a tough team to beat.”