ADVANCE -- Josh Dowdy decided at halftime that it was time for his Advance boys basketball team to apply some defensive pressure at half court.

The Hornets' second-half defensive alignment gave Leopold just enough trouble that Advance pulled out a 52-49 victory Thursday.

"It caused us to take a couple quick shots is what it done," Leopold coach Shawn Kinder said. "That's not what we practice every day. We practice controlling the offensive tempo ourselves. Advance done a good job of getting us to play at their pace."

Advance capitalized on seven second-half turnovers to erase a three-point halftime deficit.

"We're just trying to turn up the tempo a little bit," Dowdy said. "It sped them up a little bit, forced a few turnovers. We actually got some steals and were able to convert some layups at the other end. I really thought it helped us turn the game around."

The Hornets (20-6) also got some hot shooting from Matt Ware and Luke Steil, who combined for 16 points after intermission.

Advance went on a 9-2 run to pull ahead 49-41 with 1:55 remaining. But it struggled from the free-throw line, allowing the Wildcats (20-3) to stick around.

"The first time we played Leopold, we struggled with free throws," Dowdy said. "I just hope that's the problem -- Leopold is in our head as far as free throws. ... Typically we shoot free throws pretty well."

Advance missed the front end of three consecutive 1-and-1s, keeping Leopold's hope alive.

"It's kind of a little ray of hope," Leopold's Dustin Thiele said. "You've just got to work off what they're messing up on and hope we make our free throws."

Advance shot 36 percent (4 of 11) from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter. Jacob Bond, who finished with eight points for the Hornets, said he and his teammates planned to arrive at school early today to work on their free throws.

"We'll all try to get in here a little early and get our free throws in before school," he said. "We'll probably focus on that in practice. It gets to you a little bit, but you've got to keep your composure in games like that."

The Wildcats were forced into action without one of their top scorers, senior Larry Nussbaum, who injured his ankle Tuesday. Kinder hopes that Nussbaum can return before the end of district play.

"We're keeping our fingers crossed," Kinder said. "We talked to the orthopedic surgeon and we talked to the trainers and things, and they act like they're going to get after him and maybe he'll be back by the district semifinals. He messed up all the ligaments in his ankle."

@z_agate_HSbasketball_linescore:Leopold1681312--49

Advance10111615--52

@z_agate_no tab_no indnt_bld ld:LEOPOLD (49) -- Dustin Thiele 18, Wade Wiseman 2, Darren VanGennip 14, Anthony Seabaugh 8, David Fluchel 5, John Bohnsack 2. FG 22, FT 3-6, F 14. (3-pointers: VanGennip 1, Fluchel 1. Fouled out: None)

ADVANCE (49) -- Blake Seabaugh 7, Jacob Bond 8, David VanGennip 12, Luke Steil 12, Matt Ware 11, Cody VanGennip 2. FG 20, FT 7-16, F 7. (3-pointers: Seabaugh 1, VanGennip 1, Ware 3. Fouled out: None)