COLUMBUS - It takes guts to win a conference title, and North Bend Central had plenty to spare on Saturday.

Down their leading scorer - Kyler Hellbusch, who exited the game with a knee injury - and trailing by seven in the fourth quarter, the Tigers hit big shot after big shot, coming from behind to beat upstart West Point-Beemer 50-48 in the East Husker Conference championship.

With Hellbusch cheering from the sidelines, fellow senior Sam Post hit a go-ahead three-pointer late in the fourth and salted the game away with a 4-4 performance from the free throw line in the final minute.

The Cadets were trying to win the conference title as an eight-seed, after upsetting top-seeded Howells-Dodge in the quarterfinals and using a last-second shot in the semis to propel them past fifth-seeded Humphrey/Lindsay Holy Family.

The conference championship is North Bend Central's 11th all-time. They've now won 11 of their last 12 games after starting the season 2-3.

SCORING SUMMARY

WEST POINT-BEEMER (9-9)     - 15 11 12 10 - 48 

NORTH BEND CENTRAL (13-4) - 18  8  8 16 - 50

TEAM STATS

NORTH BEND CENTRAL

 - FG: 16/41 (39%)

 - 3P: 8/25 (32%)

 - FT: 10/14 (71%)

WEST POINT-BEEMER

 - FG: 17/37 (46%)

 - 3P: 5/16 (31%)

 - FT: 9/17 (53%)

INDIVIDUAL STATS

NORTH BEND CENTRAL

 - Sam Post: 15 pts, 1 reb

 - Layne Ruzicka: 10 pts, 4 rebs

 - Jake Wright: 8 pts, 2 rebs

 - Cash Hanis: 5 pts, 1 reb

 - Ethan Kluck: 4 pts, 4 rebs

 - Koda Baehr: 3 pts, 2 rebs

 - Kyler Hellbusch: 3 pts

 - Braxton Chvatal: 2 pts, 3 rebs

WEST POINT-BEEMER

 - Hunter Swanson: 12 pts, 4 rebs

 - Colten Haber: 10 pts, 4 rebs

 - Peyton Penrose: 9 pts, 2 rebs

 - Myles Nielsen: 8 pts, 1 reb

 - Blaize Brockman: 4 pts, 1 reb

 - Brayden Doggett: 2 pts, 3 rebs

 - Ian Schiller: 2 pts, 1 reb

 - Connor Troyer: 1 pt, 2 rebs