The MBR U17 boys basketball team lost its final game of pool play at the AAU Division I 11th-Grade National Tournament in Louisville, Kentucky, on Friday.
But the team of Maine high school standouts still finished first in its pool and advanced to bracket play in the national championship round that features the top 50 percent of the competing teams from around the country.
After a 64-62 loss to CM 3-Sports Lightning at the buzzer on Friday, MBR was one of three teams in its pool with a 2-1 record but earned first place as calculated by point differential.
Coach Rick Moore’s club is scheduled to play two games Saturday at 10:20 a.m. and 3:40 p.m.
Andrew Fleming of Oxford Hills of South Paris led MBR in its game against CM 3-Sports Lightning with 23 points. Tom Coyne of Falmouth and Hunter Smith of Foxcroft Academy each added 12 points, while Riley Robinson of Dirigo of Dixfield scored six points, Conar Moore of Hampden Academy had five and HA teammates Jake Black and Brendan McIntyre each scored two points.
MBR took a 17-14 first-quarter lead and then scored the first seven points of the second quarter to build a 10-point advantage before CM 3-Sports Lightning rallied to within 35-33 by intermission.
Fleming and Coyne each had nine points at the break for MBR.
CM 3-Sports Lightning built on its second-quarter momentum to take a 52-46 lead by the end of the third period, but Smith opened the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer and MBR went on to take a 58-57 lead with 2:32 left in the game as Coyne hit a 3-pointer and Fleming followed with a turnaround jumper.
The teams then swapped the lead three times in the final two minutes.
CM 3-Sports Lightning grabbed a defensive rebound with 21 seconds left and ran the clock down before hitting an off-balance shot from the lane as time expired.
MBR shot 52 percent (24-of-46) from the field for the game but made just 10-of-17 (59 percent) of its free-throw attempts.
