The clock in the fourth quarter couldn’t wind down fast enough for the Three Rivers boys basketball team Tuesday. The Wildcats managed to pull out their first victory of the season — a 48-44 decision at Comstock — despite being held scoreless in the fourth quarter.
“Thankfully we still held on,” said Alex Cottingham, who poured in a game-high 21 points for Three Rivers, which moved to 1-2 overall.
Leading 25-19 at halftime, the Wildcats pounced on the Colts (0-3) in the third quarter and outscored the home squad 23-10. Then the lug nuts started to rattle loose for Three Rivers over the final eight minutes.
“We panicked,” said Cottingham, whose team committed several of its otherwise respectable 13 turnovers and struggled at the foul line in the fourth quarter. “We started making stupid mistakes we didn’t make all night. And we missed seven free throws, which didn’t help.”
Comstock won the rebounding war 24-23 but couldn’t overcome Three Rivers’ 48-percent shooting (20-for-42) from the field.
Adam Reed churned out nine points and Cam Cottingham added eight for the Wildcats, which were outscored 16-6 at the stripe.
Alex Cottingham admitted that the first win was sweet, but Three Rivers has a long way to go in the consistency category.
“I would say playing a full game,” he said when asked what area needs the most improvement moving forward. “We play good quarters periodically, but we have to learn to put it in a full game. We are very athletic. So we have to use that to our advantage.”