Photo by Julie Vinsand, The Gowrie News: Tre Fisher scores for Southeast Valley in a district semifinal on Thursday in Story City.

STORY CITY — For three quarters, it looked like the Southeast Valley boys were going to end the Roland-Story hex.

The Norsemen came alive in the fourth quarter, though, and ultimately turned back the Jaguars in a Class 2A district semifinal on Thursday, 56-51.

“It was very close the entire game,” said SV head coach Kyle Johnson, a Fort Dodge Senior High graduate. “Our defense played really well against a very good team (who averaged 62 points coming in).”

It was the second meeting this season between the two squads, with Roland-Story (20-2) also prevailing in the first matchup, 47-44.

The Jaguars (12-11 overall) built a 16-10 lead in the early going, and held a three-point advantage at half.

It wasn’t until the fourth quarter when the Norsemen started to take control. Heading into the final eight minutes, the Jaguars were hanging on to a tenuous 38-37 advantage. R-S then outscored Southeast Valley 19-13 in the final frame.

Southeast Valley almost fought back after the Norsemen had hit three triples in a 15-6 run to start the period.

Roland-Story missed three front ends of one-in-ones late.

Senior Aaron Graves hit two buckets, and classmate Kolson Kruse had a two and a triple to cut the deficit to 54-51.

Southeast Valley had a chance to tie, rebounding the ball after a missed free throw with 12 seconds remaining. The Jaguars weren’t able to get a clean look, however, and the Norsemen hung on for the win.

Graves, who won a first round state wrestling match Thursday morning, led the Jaguars with 33 points.

“Aaron had a great game and a big third quarter where he hit four three-pointers,” Johnson said. “They had a big fourth quarter against us early on, though. We just weren’t aggressive enough on the offensive end of the floor.”

Jonovan Wilkinson led the Norsemen with 16 points. Isaiah Naylor, the nephew of Fort Dodge graduate and track state champion Nate Naylor, had 11 points.

Roland-Story 56, Southeast Valley 51

Southeast Valley — Aaron Graves 33, Kolson Kruse 5, Tre Fisher 6, Kaleb Scott 4, Drew Correl 3.

Roland-Story — Isaiah Naylor 11, Jonovan Wilkinson 16, Will Bunn 5, Kale Lande 5, Ben Greenfield 7, Luke Patton 12.

Quarter scores: Southeast Valley led 16-10, 21-18, 38-37.