Montague’s Brandon Stine hits a jumper from near the baseline in the opening half of the Wildcats’ thrilling 68-66 win over rival Whitehall. Defending on the play is Matt Ferguson. At left, Whitehall’s Jordan Vanderleest is fouled by Arthur Reed of Montag

Montague, led by 6-3 junior Brandon Moore, played an intense final two minutes to overcome the Vikings. It was Moore who hit a layup with just over 30 seconds to go which gave the host their first lead since midway in the second quarter, 67-66. After turnovers by each team, 6-4 junior Chase Casebolt hit one of two free throws to put Montague up 68-66 with 9.1 to go.

Whitehall still had a chance to win or tie the game after grabbing the rebound on Casebolt’s missed second free throw attempt.

Whitehall’s best outside shooter, Isaac Love got the ball on top and put up a contest shot that went short, but the Vikings had two more tries before time ran out.

Osborne said his team worked hard the last two minutes of the game, but he recognized Whitehall for its play the entire game.

“Whitehall played really well. I feel bad for Nate and his guys.”

Read the entire story in the Beacon print and e-editions.And, Stine, who scored 10 for the game, hit a big basket on a drive down the lane which turned out to be the table setter for Moore’s eventually game winning layup.