The Austin boys basketball team hung with No. 5 ranked Red Wing for much of the night, but it couldn’t close the deal in a 45-41 loss in Red Wing Tuesday.

The Wingers (7-0 overall, 7-0 Big Nine) led 42-41 for a long stretch late in the game, before they finally went up 44-41 on a lay-up with 35 seconds left. The Packers (3-4 overall, 3-3 Big Nine) missed a game-tying 3-pointer on their final possession.

Austin had led 29-26 early in the second half after Gach Gach and Noah Brehmer had back-to-back lay-ups.

“It was sort of a grind it out game and no one really scored much in the last six minutes of the game,” Austin head coach Kris Fadness said. “Both teams had a lot of empty possessions.”

Austin freshman Both Gach led his team with 11 points.

Ty Buck had 21 points for Red Wing.

Austin 26 19 — 45

RW 25 16 — 41

Austin scoring: Both Gach, 12; Nik Gasner, 9; Dylan Gasner, 6; Gach Gach, 4; Noah Brehmer, 4; Zach Coffey, 4; Oman Oman, 2