The Audubon boys basketball team never led but kept hanging around against Central Decatur on Saturday in Des Moines, ultimately falling 50-45 to the Cardinals. Central Decatur hit a couple shots at the end of the first quarter to lead 16-8 at the end of 1 and were up 23-14 at halftime. The lead stayed around 8-10 points through most of the second half until the Wheelers made it interesting late. Using pressure defense the Wheelers forced a few Cardinal turnovers and got the lead down to 5 a couple times. The Cardinals ultimately did enough to hang on.

Trey Hullinger had a big game for Central Decatur with 23 points. Matthew Boothe added 9 and Jack Scrivner had 7. The Cardinals stayed unbeaten at 4-0.

Audubon was led by 14 points from Carson Bauer and 10 from Edward Miller. The Wheelers fall to 1-3. They’ll host Riverside on Tuesday.