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Forest Area freshman Carl Snyder had converted a steal into a driving layup seconds before to get the Warriors within five points of Kingsley, 64-59.

Kingsley missed a shot at the other end, and Bob Hatfield pulled down the rebound for Forest Area.

With only 3.5 seconds on the clock, junior point guard Tyler Denike pulled up and launched a jump shot from just beyond the 3-point arc. Kingsley's defender tried to block the shot from behind and was quickly whistled for a foul.

It sent Denike to the free throw line with 2.6 seconds left and a chance to narrow the deficit to two points.

Denike calmly drained all three free throws, shaving the Stags' lead to 64-62. He finished the night making 13-of-14 attempts at the charity stripe. The Warriors threw a full-court press on the Stags and came a fingertip's length away from swiping the in-bounds pass.

But, the Stags successfully controlled the ball as Nathan Ensman leaped to haul it in and raced down the court for a layup to clinch Kingsley's 66-62 upset win.

"It was a heck of a game," Forest Area head coach Bobby Nix said. "It went back-and-forth.

"We dug ourselves a big hole there in the first quarter, and we battled back, took the lead at halftime.

"Then we had a few mistakes there along the line. It's just so tough to get a good team down."

Kingsley stunned the Warriors with a 6-0 run to start the game, and built its lead to 14 pointgs (17-3) before settling for a 20-11 edge at the end of the first period.

But, as Nix said, the Warriors fought back in the second quarter. Forest Area went on a 12-2 run with Denike scoring 7 points, including a 3pointer and two free throws, to tie the score at 23-23 with 2:27 left in the half.

Denike buried a trey right at the buzzer ending the second quarter to send the Warriors into the break with a 34-31 lead.

He nailed another triple in answer to Kingsley's opening bucket of the second half for a 37-35 Warriors lead.

The Stags, however, opened up a 12-point lead, 54-42, late in the third period as Thomas Sedlacek scored 7 points. Kingsley led 54-43 going into the fourth quarter.

"It just didn't fall our way," Nix said. "Kingsley is a great ball club, and they showed it tonight.

"Somebody has to lose, and unfortunately tonight it was us. It's a tough one. Especially for the seniors."

Denike led the Warriors in scoring with 30 points. No one else was in double figures for Forest Area.

Mitchell Core finished with 9 points, Bob Hatfield had 8, Snyder chipped in with 7, Sam Runkel added 4 and Matt Kelly 2. The Warriors shot 18-for-28 at the free throw line for the game (64 percent).

Brian Conrad paced the Stags with 19 points, followed by Ensman with 17 and Sedlacek with 15.

Kingsley advanced to the regional at Gaylord with a 12-10 record. The Stags played Monday night.

Forest Area finished the season 15-7.