In only its third year of existence, the Catamounts finished the regular season 22-2 (13-1 Tri-Eight).

Middle Creek, which could have earned a share of the title had it won, seemed like it was making its move late in the third quarter, after freshman Jon Moore's 3-pointer brought the Mustangs (19-5, 11-3) to within three. But Earnest Ross, who led all scorers with 24 points including 2-of-2 from beyond the arc, answered with a three of his own, quieting the previously raucous Middle Creek crowd.

"I'm a competitive player, I don't mind the trash-talking. If the crowd's trash-talking, that just feeds me even more. When they're not talking it brings me down actually," Ross said. "As long as the crowd is talking trash, I'm going to keep bringing it and keep bringing it."

Ross emphatically slammed the door shut on Middle Creek's chances late in the fourth, when he caught a low-hanging alley-oop from teammate Mike Hood with less than a minute left.

Panther Creek coach L.J. Hepp said Ross' confidence rubs off on the rest of his team going into big games.

"He's an unbelievable competitor. There are parts of his personality I value so much," Hepp said. "He's so fiery and so intense and his attitude is a huge reason why this program has gone from where it was and where it is."

Panther Creek forward Marques Oliver, who has had a knack for coming up big against top competition, scored 23 points for the Catamounts on 10-of-12 shooting and grabbed 11 rebounds.

"He shows up in big games, which is a wonderful thing," Ross said. "When it's a big game with big players and big crowds he feeds off the energy just like me."

The Catamounts' vaunted defense didn't disappoint on this night, holding Middle Creek to 21 points less than their season average.

The Mustangs' Tom Tankelewicz, who had just five points in the first meeting, mustered just four points on Friday. And for the first time all year, he was shutout from beyond the arc, missing all 10 of his 3-point attempts.

"I thought he got pretty good looks all night. We were 2-for-23 for three and that was by far the worst we've shot," Middle Creek coach David Kushner said. "Overall, I thought we played really hard and were more physical but we just didn't make plays."

Garrius Adams, who has signed for Miami next year, also struggled to get away from a scrappy triangle-and-two defense that Panther Creek employed.

Adams had 16 points on 5-of-12 shooting, but did collect 10 rebounds.

After being dominant throughout the year, Middle Creek has now lost its last two games, falling to Athens Drive 57-52 on Tuesday. It was the first time in three years Middle Creek has lost back-to-back games.

"The team back then responded really well back then because we had good leadership. If we can get some good leadership there's no telling how far we can go this year," Kushner said. "If we don't then it'll be a real short trip to the playoffs, so I left that up to them and hopefully they're in [the locker room] talking about that right now."

The Mustangs will host next week's semifinals and finals for the Tri-Eight Conference Tournament.