The Hebron girls’ 41-game win streak came to an end Tuesday in the quarterfinals of the Nike Tournament of Champions in Phoenix, but it came at the hands of the No. 1 ranked team in America, in a hard fought 61-54 loss. Hebron gave nationally top ranked Long Island Lutheran (NY) all it could handle. Early nerves on the biggest stage proved to be the Lions’ ultimate downfall as Long Island Lutheran went up 10 at the end of the first quarter leading 24-14. The Lions settled in after realizing they can play with this team. Hebron outscored the Crusaders 14-13 in the second quarter and trailed 37-28 at the half. Long Island Lutheran, the defending Nike TOC champion, is incredibly deep, big, talented, and well coached. They upped their lead to 13 points midway through the third quarter, but Hebron would not go way. The Lions chipped away at the lead closing the gap to 51-45 at the end of the third quarter. Hebron cut the lead to just 54-50 with under two minutes to play but could not get any closer having to foul to stop the clock. Long Island Lutheran did a nice job making free throws late and were able to close out the win. The Hebron girls have gotten the attention of the national high school basketball community with their effort in pushing the nation’s top team to the brink. “Prognosticators” predicted a 30-point win for Long Island Lutheran. The Lions had something to say about that. Not to be overshadowed was a milestone reached by Hebron star junior Aubrey Beckham as she reached the 1000-career point milestone during the second quarter. Beckham was outstanding today as she dazzled the crowd with her ability to get to the basket. She dropped 26 points, dished seven assists… both team highs, and had five rebounds. Mia James had another solid game scoring 14 points to go with one steal and one rebound. Danielle Osho put up seven points, four boards, one steal and one assist while Kerra Butler had a monster seven blocks to go with four points, a game-high seven rebounds, and three steals. Alanna Beckham chipped in two points and one rebound in the losing effort. Hebron drops to 9-1 with the loss while Long Island Lutheran improves to 8-0. If you’re going to play the No. 1 team in the country, might as well play the No. 2 team the next day. The Lions will next face Montverde (FL), currently ranked No. 2 in the nation by MaxPreps. Montverde (7-1) lost its quarterfinal with No. 8 Bishop McNamara 61-56 earlier today. Tipoff is tomorrow (Wednesday) at 11:00 AM Eastern.