On paper, the Hilldale Hornets matchup against the Wagoner Bulldogs was in clear favor of the Hornets.

Two games ago, Hilldale had beaten them earlier in the season by 26, prior to the holiday break. But this time was no cake walk as the Bulldogs matched them almost shot for shot before falling 52-51 at Ron Milam Gymnasium, thanks to the clutch shooting of senior guard Nick Cowan.

Down by five with under 30 seconds to go, Cowan drove the court and launched a 3-pointer with three defenders in his face. The result — nothing but net, and he was also fouled in the process. Cowan converted the four-point play with his free throw bringing Hilldale within one point with 12 seconds to go.

After Wagoner missed a free throw, it was the Cowan show again as he willed his way into the lane and put up a fade-away layup.

Thus, the escape.

“I was just thinking ‘get to the goal and draw contact to get the foul,’ and it fell in,” Cowan said. “It was a really good win coming off of yesterday.”

Hilldale head coach Jeremy Rodgers added that Cowan just makes plays when it counts.

“I was teasing him after the game that he missed some easy shots,” he said, “but he made those last two. Those were tough.”

He would finish with 17 points along with teammate Cameron Sikes’ 18 points.

The win improved the Hornets to 5-4 and dropped Wagoner to 1-8 on the season.

Rodgers thought the team fought hard and made the plays at the end.

“I’ve always told them we can’t just always shoot well,” he said. “I told them that we’re going to have to win ugly and it was fairly ugly. But even good teams have to win ugly sometimes.”

Hilldale will play Sequoyah in Saturday’s consolation final at 1:30 p.m. at Muskogee High School. Wagoner gets Checotah for seventh place at 1:30 p.m., at Hilldale High School.