INDIANAPOLIS — Logansport’s boys basketball team went into this season with expectations of winning a North Central Conference championship.

The Berries showed just why Friday night on the state’s best stage for basketball, Bankers Life Fieldhouse, against a top-ranked team from Muncie Central.

The Berries had the Bearcats on the ropes, but Muncie Central made just enough plays in the decisive fourth quarter to top Logan 56-53 at the Super Ball Invitational, a possible once-in-a-lifetime event.

“I think we can play with anybody, we’ve just got to learn to close out games, that’s all it is,” said junior guard Antonio Penny, who had a game-high 22 points, six steals and four assists in the contest.

The Berries (9-6, 1-3 NCC) are now out of the picture in the NCC race, but they did show that they can compete with just about anyone in the state against the Class 3A No. 1 Bearcats (14-2, 5-0), who take on all comers every year and have earned their top ranking.

It was another in a series of tough NCC losses for the Berries, who lost on a buzzer-beater at Anderson and in a controversial finish at New Castle before Friday’s contest.

The Muncie thriller was back and forth throughout with nine ties and 11 lead changes.

The Berries got a little sloppy with the ball with two unforced turnovers early in the fourth quarter, and the Bearcats made them pay with a quick 7-0 run to take a 46-39 lead with 4:15 remaining after a Travis Woods 3-pointer.

The lead extended to 49-41 when Nick Osborne scored on a putback of a missed free throw to complete a three-point play with 3:50 left.

Logan answered with a quick 4-0 run after two Jarod Schrock free throws and a Penny layup following a Cam Biggs blocked shot. Woods pushed the lead back up to seven with a three-point play.

Penny then fouled out Loyola of Chicago-bound Osborne when he was fouled on a drive but missed the front end of a one-and-one. Shortly after Penny recorded a steal and score to make it 52-47 with 2:20 remaining.

Muncie again turned the ball over out of the press, and Biggs scored on an assist by Brock Armstrong to cut the lead to three. Penny then scored on yet another one of his electrifying finishes after Armstrong had knocked the ball loose and all of a sudden it was a one-point game with 1:50 remaining.

But Woods hit two free throws to make it 54-51, and Penny had the ball barely bounce out on a tough runner. But the Berries pressured and forced a 10-second violation to get the ball back. Penny then drew a foul and hit both free throws to cut the lead back to one with 29.1 seconds left. He also fouled Woods out in the process, so arguably the Bearcats’ two best players were now out of the game. But Muncie’s Kaleb Mallory broke the Logan press and scored on a layup to make it 56-53 with 17.8 seconds remaining.

Following a timeout, Logan drew up a play, and Armstrong, set up by a good screen by Penny, took a cross-court pass and took a 3-point shot fading to his right near the right corner with two defenders charging at him. The shot looked like it was going to drop but just hit back-iron and bounced off. Muncie’s Josh Mawhorr rebounded and was fouled with 1.6 seconds left.

But Mawhorr missed the front end of a one-and-one, and the Berries rebounded and called their final timeout with 1.3 seconds left. But at that point the best shot they could muster up was a three-quarters court shot by Penny that fell short.

“Even when they broke away with that lead, we still came together and proved that we could play with those guys,” said Schrock, who had eight points and a team-high eight boards in the contest. “You can’t fault the effort, but all of our losses this year have come down to those last few points. I believe that we can compete with anybody that steps on the court with us, we’ve just got to pull out a win next time.”

Armstrong was also in double figures for the Berries with 11 points. He was 2 of 2 from 3-point range before his attempt just missed that would have forced overtime, where the Berries seemingly would have had the advantage considering who the Bearcats had on the bench with five fouls. Biggs added six points.

Woods led the Bearcats with 16 points. He was in foul trouble most of the way but scored 11 big points in the fourth quarter to help them escape with the win.

Mawhorr finished with 11 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. He added three assists and earned the game’s MVP award. Osborne had 10 points and five boards. A highlight for him was a one-handed slam on a putback in the third quarter. Mallory and Adam Botts each added six points.

“We did what we had to do. We felt like we had to keep it in the 50s somewhere,” Logan coach Mark Victor said. “I thought we did a nice job on the backboard, but it kind of got away from us a little bit in the second half. We got to the line but we didn’t convert like we should have (13 of 21).”

In the end, the Berries had a tremendous showing against a top-ranked team under the bright lights of Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Super Bowl weekend in Indianapolis.

“It was exciting,” Penny said. “We came out here to have fun, but also to win a basketball game. But hey, we had fun.”