Stoughton didn’t fold however, rattling off a 12-0 run of their own, and finishing the quarter with a 19-6 run that gave them a 4 point lead heading into the final frame.
“The kids were pretty good in the timeouts and they stuck together,” Stoughton head coach John Gallivan said.
And it turned out, that wasn’t the biggest moment of the game.
Both teams battled back in forth in the final frame, changing leads four teams with the deficit never bigger than five for either side.
Natick had a chance to tie it or take the lead down 66-64 with 8.4 seconds to go, but Stoughton’s Mauro Oliveira intercepted Natick’s tipped inbound pass and converted his free throws to secure the 68-64 win for the Black Knights.
“We made just enough plays down the stretch to walk out of here with a win against a quality team,” Gallivan added. “You can’t get too high when things are going well and you can’t get too low and hang your head when things are going badly.”
Stoughton senior captain Joe Bunce-Grenon led the way with 23 points and 16 rebounds while fellow captain Oliveira added 12 points and 10 boards.
Marcus Middleton finished with 14 points, five of which came in the fourth while playing on an injured ankle. Gallivan said Middleton was playing “almost on one leg.”
“Joe was huge and Mauro had a big night,” Gallivan added.
Gallivan also gave props to junior Mike Gallagher for his defensive effort on Alex Hilger and Matt Mack, who came off the bench to limit Natick’s Joe Carty to 11 points. Carty had 29 points a week ago in a win over Needham.
“It was a true team win, which is what we’re going to need every time we get a win.” Gallivan said.