Eastland 65, Pearl City 58: The final five minutes of the Eastland-Pearl City boys basketball game must have seemed like an eternity to Cougar fans, coaches and players.

Eastland saw a 17-point lead chipped away to five by hard-charging Pearl City, only to hold on to win 65-58 on Wednesday.

“That might have been the longest five minutes in my 22 years of coach,” Eastland coach Tony Dunlap said. “Give Pearl City a lot of credit, we got a big lead, but they kept fighting.

“Adam Talbert hit I don’t know how many 3s and we struggled against the press. Fortunately, we knocked down our free throws to keep the lead.”

Eastland would hit 11-of-14 from the line in the fourth and 21-of-24 in the game, but the major difference maker for the Cougars was Tyler Zumdahl and his 31 points.

“My teammates did a good job of creating shots for me, then it was up to me to make them,” Zumdahl said. “We knew we had to come out strong because they came back on us the last time, too.”

Tony Dunlap added 16 points before fouling out and post player Ben Delp scored seven points, all in the first half and grabbed five rebounds.

- Scott Holland, GateHouse News Service