SHS rallies late to beat Three Rivers

It just wouldn’t be Sturgis-Three Rivers without a little drama.

There were technical fouls, lead changes late and big plays by both teams. The end result saw the Trojans upend the Wildcats late, winning 45-42.

“I’m just euphoric for the boys right now, they battled all game and persevered,” Sturgis coach Keith Kurowski said. “Several times there in the fourth quarter it looked bad for us. But we just kept having faith and that’s hard because faith is belief without evidence. We battled. We came up with big defensive plays in that last minute of the game.”

Sturgis trailed 42-39 late. But the Trojans were able to change to a man-to-man pressure-switching defense that caused a couple of turnovers late by the Wildcats. Late shots from Grady Miller and Jacob Thompson, aided by free throws following a technical foul, pushed SHS ahead.

A steal late by Gavyn Moore officially sealed the game, following that the Sturgis student section rushed the court to celebrate with the team. School officials did their best to remove everyone from the floor so the handshake line could commence.

It was an odd situation late, but each team was able to head to their locker rooms.

Three Rivers head coach Brian Burg was not available for comment after the game.

The Wildcats did a solid job keeping Sturgis under wraps for a good chunk in the game. The Trojans struggled at times to score, including putting up a zero spot in the third quarter.

“I’m so proud of our guys, it’s always good to beat Three Rivers, it’s a good rivalry,” Kurowski said. “We were able to take advantage of their mistakes late and that really helped us.”

Three Rivers led 10-9 after one quarter of play, but SHS led 23-20 at the break. Andrew Brown scored seven points for the Cats in the opening eight minutes. Heston Saunders added a handful of buckets at the rim as well for Three Rivers early.

In the third, the Wildcats dominated the game, at least on the scoreboard. They scored all 14 points in that frame and took what was a small deficit and turned it into a double-digit lead at 34-23.

Then, Thompson went to work.

He scored 17 points for Sturgis in the final eight minutes, most of those points were scored around the rim. Thompson had battled some sickness this past week and even missed the last few days of practice.

“He’s a big-time player and I’m so proud of him,” Kurowski said of Thompson. “I gave him a big hug after the game tonight and he flashed that big smile of his.”

A couple of turnovers late, plus a technical foul that led to a pair of free throws for Thompson, hurt Three Rivers. The Wildcats were not able to score late in the game and SHS took advantage.

Thompson finished with a game-high 31 points for Sturgis. Miller added eight and both Moore and Ian Smith tossed in three points.

“It’s always nice to win close games, hopefully this is a confidence boost for us moving forward,” Kurowski said. “Hopefully this allows us to continue to grow as a team, let’s use this as a springboard moving forward.”

SHS made 9-of-12 free throws in the game. They were all attempted by Thompson.

Brown finished with 11 points in the game for Three Rivers, Saunders added 10. Luis Warmack and Caden Cottingham each scored five points while Caleb Quake added four. Jace Gray scored three points, both Ryan Lubieniecki and Alonzo Ballentine scored two points.

Sturgis improves to 2-7 on the season with the win, TR falls to 3-6.

The Trojans travel to Parchment on Tuesday. TR will host South Haven on Tuesday as well.

This article originally appeared on Sturgis Journal: SHS rallies late to beat Three Rivers