Editor's note: Part three in a summer series reflecting on some of the greatest games played in Northeast Iowa. Tell us about the best games you recall by e-mailing us at sportsdoor@wcfcourier.com

CEDAR FALLS - Somewhere along the line, Corey Viet retrieved the game tape from Jan. 29, 2005.

And, if he can ever find an old-school VCR to replay it, he might just wear out the rewind button.

On that night, in a packed-to-the rafters Nielsen Fieldhouse at NU High, Viet, then an AGWSR of Ackley Cougar, came close to perfection - if only for 16 minutes.

The prep basketball game featured two teams ranked third in the state. Each would eventually advance to the state tournament - where each, oddly enough, finished third in their class. Ten future college athletes suited up that night.

But Viet shone the brightest. The 6-foot-4 post player shot 14-of-17 (82.3 percent) from the floor - including 7-for-7 in the third quarter alone - and rang up 31 points.

"What sticks out is that first half; I played maybe five minutes," Viet, a recent Kirkwood Community College standout, recalled this week. "I think that's what made me have that big third quarter. I was real mad.

"In a way, I was in the zone. I had never shot that good before.

"I felt like if I touched the ball, it was going in."

Of course, Viet's exploits alone make for a plot lacking in substance.

Both teams were on the verge something memorable that season. You could feel it with each assist from NU's Nick Iversen, with each 3-ball from AGWSR's Troy Bergeson, and with each of Luke Warren's 24 hard-fought points for the hosts.

"I remember the atmosphere," recalled Warren, currently a junior wide receiver on Northern Iowa's football squad.

"I remember foul trouble," said Iversen, a senior-to-be at Baker University in Baldwin, Kan., where he runs the point.

"It was a heck of a game," concluded Coach Russ Banzhaf, who has seemingly spent a lifetime on the sidelines in Ackley.

In this long-awaited cat-fight, the Panthers attacked from the outset. With Warren pouring in 16 points before the halftime break, NU soon found itself with a 13-point third-quarter advantage.

Then Viet, a brutish all-around athlete who could punish a baseball or opposing quarterback as readily as an opposing post player, helped the Cougars whittle away at their deficit.

He hit turnaround jumpers with surgical precision, accounting for 15 third-quarter points. Then, AGWSR's all-stater began the final period with three straight buckets.

Even with defenders drapped all over on him, Viet muscled in buckets.

"He just caught fire," explained Warren.

That set the stage for a wild frenetic finish. First, Warren splashed in a 3 from the left wing, handing the host Panthers a 63-62 advantage. Two timeouts followed.

"I remember (then-NU coach Jon) McKowen specifically saying, 'Don't let Viet touch the ball," Iversen noted. "Sure enough, he did."

"It came to the point I said I was gonna guard him (and) foul him, because we had a foul to give," Warren noted.

Warren did, in fact, hack Viet.

Still, the big man's final 12-foot-bankshot went up and in, inspiring a delirious din - 64-63, AGWSR.

As a rookie newspaper reporter, yours truly was so captivated by the aforementioned performance that I hurriedly rushed to my laptop and proceeded to write what I felt was surely Shakespearean prose.

Alas, my roughly 3,000-word story was about 2,000 words longer than my editor could cram into The Courier's sports section while working under an air-tight, Saturday night deadline.

As a result, if you weren't in Nielsen Fieldhouse that night, this game faded into oblivion.

So be it. This 2005 contest was simply a precursor for bigger things to come.

Roughly six weeks later, both teams made treks to the state tournament.

NU trumped Manning, 70-55, in the Class 1A consolation game that year.

And, AGWSR, which capped off a 151-21 five-year run that season, beat back Bondurant-Farrar (and future UNI Panther cager Kerwin Dunham), 68-60, in its consolation game.

Three seasons later, Travis and Nick Ellerbroek - who played sparingly in the state tournament as freshmen - propelled the Panthers on an improbable run to a state title.

You had to squint a bit back on Jan. 29, 2005, but that night was the start of something special for both teams.

Now, with the sting of that loss long since faded, even NU's players are intrigued by the thought of an encore.

"I'd like," said Iversen, "to take a peek at that."

Contact Kelly Beaton at (319) 291-1456 or kelly.beaton@wcfcourier.com

FAT CATS

Where 2005 Cougar and Panther stars are now …

Athlete/Recent accomplishment

Darren O'Brien (AGWSR) Collegiate pitcher earned a tryout with Washington Nationals

Corey Viet (AGWSR) Bound for Grand View College to continue basketball career

Matt Banzhaf (AGWSR) Bound for Grand View, to team with Viet once more

Luke Warren (NU High) Currently a junior WR for UNI gridders

Nick Iversen (NU High) Former Kirkwood standout plays PG for Baker University

Tim McKenna (NU High) Decorated runner currently toiling at Wartburg