Scott Jensen, left, of the Magnolia 7th grade basketball team, awaits a pass in Tuesday's opening NCAL boys action against Forest Lake. Defending is Forest Lake's David O'Brien (14). obfoto.com

It didn’t take long for the Nevada County Athletic League boys basketball season to have its first thrilling finish of the season.

In an opening night game played at Forest Lake Christian, Magnolia’s 8th grade Rattlers used a free throw with just six seconds to play has the difference in a 49-48 win over the host Falcons.

The contest was one of six played Tuesday as the NCAL boys teams kicked off their 2010 campaign.

Here’s a review of Tuesday’s opening games:

8th Grade

Magnolia 49 Forest Lake 48 at FLC -  The difference in the game came down to a free toss by the Rattlers which snapped a 48-48 tie with six seconds to play.

Union Hill 48 Gilmore 43, at Grass Valley - Logan Gardner and Jad Dahnke played well for the Bombers in the tight opening loss to the Bearcats.

Weimar Hills 55 Seven Hills 38, at Meadow Vista – Jack Baldoni tallied 25 points and snared 13 rebounds to help fuel the Warriors’ attack past visiting Seven Hills. Jordan Balser chipped in with 13 more points and also came up with seven steals and dished out five assists for the Warriors who led 25-18 at the halftime break. Michael Wilson and Cole Joyce tallied six points each for the winners. For Seven Hills, Hayes with 10 points, Conger with eight and O’Callaghan and Vojack with seven each led the way.

7th Grade

Gilmore 42 Union Hill 35, at Grass Valley – In a fast-paced contest, the Bombers used a three-pronged offensive effort from Jerico Mendez, Josh Belendez and Jess Sutton to trip up the visiting Bearcats. Both Mendez and Belendez tallied 14 points each while Sutton added 12 for the winners who enjoyed a 17-13 halftime lead. Christian Straub’s 19 points and seven each from Sam Powell and Joe Matteoni topped Union Hill’s offense.

Magnolia 35 Forest Lake 22 at FLC – Magnolia finished strong to pull away from a 21-16 third quarter lead and notch the win over the Falcons. Nine points from Spencer Wirth, and eight each from Brett Soloman and Scott Jensen topped the Rattlers. For Forest Lake, Kyle Soria led the way with 10 points followed by Logan Markstein with eight and David O’Brien with four.

Weimar Hills 40 Seven Hills 24, at Meadow Vista – The host Warriors used a big 15-3 fourth quarter to pull away from the Raiders. Weimar led 19-11 at halftime before Seven Hills trimmed the margin to just 25-21 entering the final stanza. Ray Henry then tallied seven of his game-high 11 points in the final canto for the Warriors. Following in Weimar Hills’ balanced attack were Carrick Hoffart with eight, Pan Beninga with six, Mason Lewis with five and Logan Hurst with four. Seven Hills was led by Ben B. with eight points and Trevor Humphries with seven.