When the Flanagan-Cornell Falcons and the host Warriors met last November in the Woodland Pool of the Route 17 Classic, both teams came in undefeated with a trip to the tournament championship game on the line.

For Wednesday’s late game at the Warrior Dome, both teams entered winless. And anyone who thinks it meant any less to the Falcons, the Warriors or their fans because of that doesn’t understand the at-times friendly, at-times fierce rivalry between the schools situated just 15 short miles apart.

After losing to the Falcons for 14 consecutive years, Woodland now has a winning streak over its rivals to the south, following up last season’s postseason win over Flanagan-Cornell with Wednesday night’s convincing, 74-58 triumph.

“It’s the first time in a long time,” Woodland coach Connor Kaminke said, wearing a huge smile.

As a result, Woodland will play in Saturday’s fifth-place game on its home court at 3:30 p.m. Flanagan-Cornell (0-3) will play for seventh at 2 p.m.

While Flanagan-Cornell senior Logan Ruddy led all scorers with 41 points on 13-of-34 shooting, Woodland more than countered with three Warriors not only in double digits, but with varsity career highs. Sophomores Nate Berry and Grant Wissen put in 18 and 17 points, respectively, and senior Jaron Follmer popped in team bests of 23 points on 7-of-12 shooting, nine rebounds and five assists.

“All we needed was one shot to go in,” Follmer said. “We’ve had a rough couple nights as a team, and coach just told us to get out there and get our confidence up, and me to take the ball to the hoop and do what I’ve got to do.

“It feels amazing, especially after hearing last year [after Flanagan-Cornell’s come-from-behind overtime win over Woodland in the Route 17 Classic] that they don’t lose to us. That’s the fire we needed, and we knew it was going to be a battle when we got out here.”

Woodland opened with a 10-0 run, but to almost no one’s surprise the Falcons fought back to spend most of the second quarter trailing by just three until a late quarter hard foul, in-the-face jawing and technical foul allowed the Warriors to rebuild their 10-point advantage by halftime, 30-20.

The game was hotly contested until the final horn, but Flanagan-Cornell never really threatened again as Woodland kept piling up points thanks to the effort of Follmer, Berry, Wissen, Noah Decker (eight points, four assists) and Brezdyn Simons (six points, five rebounds). Woodland finished shooting 45.5% (25-of-55) from the field and committing only nine turnovers.

“We didn’t want to be 0-2 coming into this game, and we didn’t think we’d be here,” Kaminke said. “After watching tape, it looked like there was this weight on our shoulders ... that we’re not living up to our expectations. Tonight’s pregame emphasis was, ‘Just play ball.’

“And if you can’t get excited for this game – on either side – then you probably shouldn’t be in that uniform."

Ruddy obviously starred for F-C, adding 11 rebounds to his 41 points for a double-double. Reece Pelnarsh added eight points, six rebounds and a team-high three assists before fouling out with 1:29 to play.

“Love the battle, and love the chase,” Falcons coach Brian Yoder said. “And hats off to Mr. Pelnarsh and Mr. Ruddy. I don’t even care about the points. Not many basketball players would take a charge anytime, let alone down 26 and 18 points. Their energy and effort gave us a fighting chance.”

Ridgeview 70, St. Bede 49

In Wednesday’s early game, the Mustangs (3-0) led throughout and pulled away from the Bruins in the second half to win the Woodland Pool and advance to Saturday’s championship game.

St. Bede – led Wednesday by 23 points from Gino Ferrari, six apiece courtesy of AJ Hermes and Geno Dinges and five from Carson Riva – will return to the Warrior Dome to play for third place at 5 p.m. Saturday.

“[Ridgeview] was uber-aggressive and really gave us trouble ... but I’m really proud of our guys,” St. bede coach Brian Hanson said. “First time we’ve gone 2-1 over here in about six years.

“We wanted to be in a championship atmosphere, championship situation. Now we just have to enjoy Thanksgiving, then come back Friday and get better and then Saturday hopefully get third place.”