BYRON – Hobbling on a charley horse and with a solemn tone, Sam Lambrigtsen shared the silver lining Tuesday night in Byron.

"It's hard to beat a team three times in a row," the Oregon junior said after a 60-42 loss in the de facto Big Northern West title game.

The Hawks (21-6, 9-2) won't have to worry about overcoming that stigma. They beat the Tigers (26-2, 10-1) 53-39 at home Jan. 4 and now hope to win the most important tilt - a potential third matchup in the Byron regional championship next Thursday. Both teams needing to win a semifinal to get there.

"It's going to be a really good game," an optimistic Lambrigtsen said. "We've just got to put this loss in a positive way. We're really looking forward to next week."

Tuesday night, Lambrigtsen had a hand in every point of a 12-0 run that got Oregon back in the game after trailing 41-25 moments before the end of the first half.

After Byron's 6-foot-1 sophomore forward Ellie Lehne scored the last two of her 12 points off an easy entry pass, Lambrigtsen drove and kicked to McKaylee Beeter, who splashed a first half buzzer-beating 3 from the left corner.