In a classic quarterfinal showdown of heavyweights more suited for a Saturday night championship — as it has been the last two times these teams met — the unbeaten, No.1-ranked Brewster Bears found themselves in very unfamiliar territory.

Behind.

Dangerously behind, in fact — by 10 points with barely more than nine minutes remaining, against the same Jeffrey Downs-led Bellevue Christian juggernaut that had beaten the Bears in the last two Class 1A title games.

“We haven’t been behind much,” Bears coach Tim Taylor said after watching his team rally from that double-digit deficit by sinking 17 of 21 free throws over the final 6:39 and — especially — playing enough gritty defense to eke out a 59-51 triumph.

“That’s the way it’s been all year for us,” Taylor said. “We couldn’t hit a shot, we couldn’t hit a free throw, but at the same time we weren’t giving up a lot of points. These guys, I’m telling you — if all else fails, they still play defense.”

For one three-minute span of the third quarter, though, even that didn’t work as the Vikings (20-4) ran off nine straight points — the last of them on a 3-pointer by Downs, who would rack up 22 points — to take a 40-30 lead.

“We were kind of letting them play the game at their pace. It got a little crazy,” said Bears senior Clay Gebbers, whose 12-point night made him one of four Bears in double figures. “At the timeout (called by Taylor at the tail end of the Viking run), that was the one we realized we’ve got to get this thing under control.”

And, interestingly enough, one place they did it was at the foul line — a place where, Gebbers admitted, “We’ve been shaky all year long.”

But not on Thursday. After a 5-0 Brewster run to close the third quarter — capped by a 3-pointer by sophomore Wade Gebbers (19 points) — things began to fall apart for Bellevue Christian. The same rash of odd foul calls that had gone against Brewster in the third went the other way in the fourth, and after a string of three Viking turnovers on three possessions, the Bears (27-0) were up 46-44 — their first lead since the second quarter.

And then, with 4:12 remaining, Brodie McCormack became the Bears’ player of the moment — again and again, because the Vikings kept putting him on the foul line. And it should have been a good move.

“My (foul-shooting) percentage? Lower than 50 percent,” McCormack said, laughing. “I’m terrible at free throws, but tonight I knew I had to step up.”

And step up he did, sinking six of seven free throws down the stretch and helping put the game away for the Bears, who had opened the night 1-for-8 at the line. “I think that was a lot of nerves,” Clay Gebbers said of those early foul-shooting woes. “But him, he was on tonight,” he added, with a thumb toward McCormack.

And so the two-time defending state champs are out of the championship picture, something that was tough for the Vikings to take.

“We came here to win three in a row,” said Vikings coach Mike Downs. “Our kids left it all out there on the floor. We played with no fear — so I’m very proud of the way they played.”

So, too, was Taylor of his own team, which hadn’t had to dig out of a double-digit hole all year.

“If you’d have told me we’d be 27-0 at this point,” he said with a wry grin, “I’d have said you were nuts.”

Brewster -- Benson 2-5 0-0 5, Driessen 0-0 0-0 0, W. Gebbers 5-13 5-8 19, McCormack 2-5 6-7 10, C. Gebbers 3-9 5-8 12, Gipson 5-14 3-7 13, Burgher 0-1 0-0 0, Youngers 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-47 19-30 59.
Bellevue Christian -- D. Downs 1-5 0-0 3, Iseman 2-5 2-4 7, Aly 1-1 0-0 2, Kats 0-1 0-0 0, Baranowski 2-5 0-0 5, J. Downs 7-20 5-7 22, Taylor 0-1 0-1 0, Gunderson 0-0 0-0 0, Haines 5-7 2-5 12. Totals 18-45 9-17 51.
Brewster	9	13	13	24	--	59
Bellevue Christian	10	17	13	11	--	51
3-point goals--B 6-15 (W. Gebbers 4-9, C. Gebbers 1-1, Benson 1-2, McCormack 0-3), BC 6-18 (J. Downs 3-10, Baranowski 1-1, Iseman 1-2, D. Downs 1-4, Kats 0-1). Rebounds--B 39 (Gipson 10), BC 26 (J. Downs 8, Haines 8). Assists--B 10 (W. Gebbers 3, C. Gebbers 3), BC 5 (D. Downs 2). Steals--B 5 (W. Gebbers 3), BC 7 (Taylor 2). Blocked shots--B 0, BC 3. Fouled out--J. Downs, Taylor. Total fouls--B 20, BC 26. Technical fouls--B bench. Turnovers--B 12, BC 16.