One critical call went against Porters Chapel and the Eagles could not recover in Thursday night’s District 5-A battle with University Christian.

A blocking call on Ted Brisco in a two-point game sent PCA’s promising sophomore guard to the bench with his fifth foul with 1:48 left in the fourth quarter. The Flames’ Keshawn Evans got his basket to count following the collision in the lane, and University Christian went on to score the final nine points and win 51-40.

The loss ended PCA’s (3-4, 3-2 District 5-A) three-game winning streak in district play going into tonight’s rematch with Newton Academy. PCA coach E.J. Creel said her team caught an unlucky break on Brisco’s contested play of Evans’ drive through the lane.

“We had four men hit the floor off drives and nobody got called for a charge,” Creel said. “All four were blocks against us. For two days, we worked on that. In previous games, we’d just let them go by us. That call on Ted was critical because we had just gotten back into the game.”

The Eagles were down nine, 42-33, with 2:08 to play when Brisco made an excellent spin move to the goal to get the basket and draw the foul. A technical foul against the Flames gave Brisco three shots at the free throw line. He made all three to cut the deficit to 42-38, then scored again off an inbounds play to make it a two-point game.

Brisco finished with 13 points, six rebounds and three steals, but once he fouled out the Eagles fell apart on the offensive end. Three consecutive possessions ended in turnovers. They had 21 turnovers for the game.

“We beat ourselves,” Creel said. “Had we not had the turnovers in the first half we could have finished the half up 12. Still, I liked our effort. We’re real young and they make young mistakes. We’re a totally different team than the one that played Newton in our second game.”

Flames coach Josh Dorman agreed that the blocking call on Brisco was key for his team.

“It could have been a big momentum swing,” Dorman said. “We give up a seven-point trip but Keshawn made a big move, and we got the call.”

Evans, a 6-foot-2 forward, led the Flames (6-2, 3-0) with a game-high 24 points. Caleb Shufelt made five free throws in the final minute to ice it.

Peter Harris had eight points, five assists and three rebounds for PCA, while Matthew Warren had nine points.

(G) Univ. Christian 44,

Porters Chapel 10

University Christian held Porters Chapel scoreless for all of the second quarter and most of the third in a district romp.

Annelise Albert had eight points in the first quarter to stake University Christian to a 16-4 lead, then the Flames held PCA without a point in the second quarter to go up 22-4.

PCA (1-7, 1-4) did not score until Marshedia Graise hit a 3-pointer at the third quarter buzzer.

Claire Mims had a three-point play in the fourth quarter and finished with five points. Ann Merrit Moore scored 14 for University Christian.