Friday’s 59-54 home loss to Pryor looked a lot like Thursday’s 63-55 loss at Oologah for the Grove Ridgerunners.

For the second straight night, the Ridgerunners got a big night from senior forward Jake Spychalski and led for most of the game, using a second half run to lead by seven.

Unfortunately, for the second straight game the Ridgerunners were hampered by turnovers and a lack of rebounding down the stretch as they suffered their fourth straight loss.

For the Ridgerunners (5-11) it was the sixth loss of the season by six points or less.

“In all those games we had fourth quarter leads and just didn’t get the win,” Grove head coach Zach Trimble said. “It seems like we have stretches where we struggle on offense and suddenly we give up six points. If we can just stop the bleeding earlier, where we can get back in the flow on offense and get stops.”

Friday’s game was a perfect example of that. The Ridgerunners trailed 35-34 midway through the third quarter in what had been an even game. Fueled by a pair of steals by Trent Lyle, the Ridgerunners went on an 8-0, taking a 42-35 lead with 2:28 left in the period.

But Pryor (8-8) countered immediately with a 16-2 run that left Grove trailing 51-44 with 6:31 left in the game.

Spychalski, who scored 28 on Thursday at Oologah, then went on a tear, scoring eight straight points to bring the Ridgerunners to within one at 55-54 with 2:11 left. But the Tigers would get two straight stops on defense followed by easy scores at the other end, bringing the game to a sudden end.

Spychalski finished with 30 points and 9 rebounds Friday.

“He’s one of the best players in the conference,” Trimble said. “He’s close to averaging a double double. Every game, the other team game plans for him and he comes through every single night.”

Spychalski started out with six early points as the Ridgerunners took an 11-3 lead midway through the opening period, getting a pair of threes from Spencer Londagin as well.

Pryor would come back in the second quarter thanks not to their considerable size advantage but on the strength of Robert Ross’s outside shooting. Ross would knock down a trio of threes, scoring 10 of his team-high 20 points in the second quarter that ended with the two teams tied at 29.

The two teams would trade the lead several times at the beginning of the third before Grove’s run was countered by the Tigers’ decisive burst.

“Early in the season our defense kind of carried us,” Trimble said. “We were holding teams to 40 points [a game]. Our offense has picked up since then but we’re also giving up more points. We just need a balance between the defense we played early on and the offense we’ve showed the last few games.”

The Ridgerunners were hampered by 15 turnovers, 9 coming in the second half, as well as a big disparity at the free throw line. The Tigers were 19-of-24 at the line, including 11-of-13 in the second half. Grove was 8-of-13 for the entire game.