"We just got in too deep a hole," Lewis Central coach Dan Miller said. "It's just unfortunate. I think it could have been a really fine basketball game. I think it still was...but give East credit, I don't think they missed much in that first half."

The Black Raiders opened the game with an 11-0 run and would lead by as many as 23 points in a first half where they shot 71-percent as a team.

East led 51-30 at the end of a fast-paced first half. Jorgensen, a 6-foot-8 senior post, scored a game-high 35 points, posting 22 before the break.

"Jorgensen played like the all-stater he is," Miller said. "(In) the first half, we just kind of let him have his way."

In the third quarter, L.C. wasted no time cutting into the lead. Marcos Perez hit a 3-pointer to start the half, and within the first two minutes, the Titans had closed within 15.

L.C. scored 25 in the quarter. Jon Higgins logged nine of his team-best 19 in the frame and Marcos Perez had eight after recording just two points through the first two quarters.

"As impressive as we were in the first quarter, they were that impressive in the third quarter," East coach Jeff Vanderloo said.

A 14-4 L.C. run capped off by Tyler McGrain's 3-pointer made it 63-55 with less than a minute in the third, but the Raiders regained their double-digit lead before the beginning of the fourth.

East's Dane Larsen nabbed a steal at mid-court and raced the other way. His lay-up missed the mark, but Jorgensen grabbed the rebound and netted his put back attempt at the buzzer.

"I thought (Jorgensen's score) was a huge momentum swing," said Miller.

Overall, Jorgensen was less of a factor in the third period. He found fewer opportunities and had only one field goal in the frame before the buzzer-beater.

"It seemed like they were coming after me, doubling, sending two guys after me," Jorgensen said.

Jorgensen started the fourth with a thundering dunk, and by the 5:20 mark, East had extended its lead back to 15.

Carlos Perez scored eight-straight points for L.C. midway through the fourth, and the Titans got within seven points - as close as they had been all evening -at 76-69.

A Marcos Perez bucket with just over a minute to play made it a six-point game, but the Titans luck began to run out and the big shots stopped falling.

"We had a couple of opportunities there to get it down under five," Miller said. "We had a couple of lay-ups and a couple of threes rattle out that would have made things real interesting."

The loss closes the book on the 2007-2008 season for L.C., a season in which the team won a school-record 21 games and captured its first conference title in 21 years.

"I'm proud of my guys. It would have been easy to roll over and get beat by 40 tonight," Miller said. "Bottom line: I'm just really proud of our guys for battling back."

Lewis Central 15 15 25 18 - 73

Sioux City East 26 25 15 17 - 83

Lewis Central: Keenan Lindsey 14, Marcos Perez 14, Carlos Perez 14, Craig Hendrix 0, Brady Wells 2, Tyler McGrain 5, Jon Higgins 19, Taylor Burton 3, Nate Jones 2

Sioux City East: Eric Jorgensen 35, Dane Larsen 3, Taylor Pallow 20, Andy Dougherty 2, Jordan Gentry 8, Jerad Barth 0

Records: Lewis Central (21-3)