East Liverpool’s Owen Fredritz drives against Beaver Local’s Luke Rettos at the Potter Fieldhouse on Friday. (Special to the Journal/Jimmy Joe Savage)

EAST LIVERPOOL — Arch-rivals East Liverpool and Beaver Local’s boys basketball teams put on quite a show inside a packed echo chamber better known as Potter Fieldhouse on Friday night.

In a game of runs, it was East Liverpool which had the last scoring spurt midway through the fourth quarter, carrying the Potters to a hard-earned 62-53 triumph over the Beavers.

“It’s always intense playing Beaver Local, I mean that’s the biggest game of the year for a lot of people,” said East Liverpool coach Kade Reynolds. “It’s always fun and good to get after it. When we have balanced scoring at 16, 15 and 14 we’re going to be tough to beat.”

“It was a game of runs for sure,” said Beaver Local coach Nick Miller. “They came out of the gates and jumped on us a little bit, we answered with a couple of threes and then the whole game it was like an 8-0 or 7-0 run in each direction.”

With the triumph, East Liverpool remained perfect at 3-0. Beaver Local’s record is now even at 1-1.

Trailing 41-37 entering the fourth quarter, Beaver Local went on an 8-2 run to take its first lead since early in the game at 44-43 when standout Owen Hill converted a conventional three-point play with 6:42 showing in the stanza.

But East Liverpool — which held quarter leads of 16-14, 29-21 and 41-37 — answered with a decisive 9-0 run of its own to gain an all-important eight-point cushion at 52-44, following a three-pointer by guard Cohen Pease with 5:00 left. Beaver Local cut the deficit to as little as four points (52-48) but the Potters outscored the visitors 10-5 in the remaining time to secure the win.

“I think someone took a timeout around that time and we sat down and said, hey, we’re playing at their pace, let’s play our game,” Pease said. “Speed them up, and I think we got a couple steals down the stretch and (Nate) Birch got out in transition. When we’re playing at our pace, we’re tough to stop and I think that was the key right there.”

“Obviously we don’t ever want to give up a fourth-quarter lead but the kids have shown all season that they’re gritty,” said Reynolds. “We have been tested multiple times and our defense starts everything for us. We got a steal, then another steal and layup after layup to go on a 9-0 run and take that fourth-quarter lead, and that’s always the goal.”

Pease led a well-balanced East Liverpool scoring attack with a team-high 16 points, including four three-pointers, while teammate Nate Birch added 15 points, Quintin Conrad had 14 and Owen Fredritz finished with nine.

“It’s a rivalry game and emotions are always high,” said Pease. “As a group we just say it’s another game, right, and never let the emotions get too high as a group. Just stick together and play for the win, and I think that’s what we did.”

Beaver Local was paced by physical 6-foot-6 standout Owen Hill, who powered his way inside to take game-scoring honors with 22 points. Luke Rettos netted 15 and Nick McKenzie five.

“We know he’s going to get his,” said Reynolds of Hill. “The kid’s phenomenal and he deserves everything he gets throughout the next two years. The kid’s really, really good and our goal was to not let him get 30. Keep him from beating us and hopefully make someone else try to put the ball in the hoop.”

In a fast-paced first half in which the teams combined for 20 turnovers (12 for Beaver Local and eight on East Liverpool), the Beavers’ biggest lead was two points (10-8) in the first period, while the Potters, who led 16-14 after one period and 29-21 at intermission, held their largest lead in the opening two quarters at 11 points twice late in the second quarter.

Despite the loss to East Liverpool, Miller said his team played very well against a talented Potter team on its home floor.

“I’ve got to give my guys a lot of credit, this is a tough building to play in,” he said. “They get hooting and hollering and they see the three-ball go in and it gets loud. We could have folded a couple times, and in year’s past we did, but I guess that shows a little bit of our character. We’re very passionate. I can’t be more proud of my team the way they fought.”

Game notes

• East Liverpool held off a late Beaver Local rally to win the JV game, 43-39.

• The Potters will travel to Indian Creek Tuesday for a Buckeye 8 contest with the Redskins.

“Obviously going to Indian Creek is tough and it’s always tough to play there but hopefully we can get two wins on the road next week (at Indian Creek and St. Clairsville),” said Reynolds.

• The Beavers will host Harrison Central in a Buckeye 8 game Tuesday.

“We need a little revenge,” said Miller. “They (the Huskies) have gotten the best of us the last couple of years, they’ve had some nice ball teams, so we’re hoping to get one back on them and get back in the winning column.”

BL: 14-07-16-16–53

EL: 16-13-12-21–62

BEAVER LOCAL SCORING: Nick McKenzie 1-1-5, Owen Hill 6-7-22, Luke Rettos 6-3-15, Hunter Warrick 1-0-3, Aiden Dray 0-4-4, Tucker McElroy 0-0-0, Taylor Johnston 1-0-2, Matthew Anderson 1-0-2. TEAM TOTALS: 11, 14-17: 53.

EAST LIVERPOOL SCORING: Gavin Wright 0-0-0, Blake Adkins 3-0-6, Nate Birch 5-4-15, Quintin Conrad 5-3-14, Owen Fredritz 3-1-9, Julius Jones 1-0-2, Abercrombie 0-0-0, D’Shawn Kirby 0-0-0, Cohen Pease 4-4-16. TEAM TOTALS: 21, 12-20: 62.

Three-point goals: Beaver Local 2 (Nick McKenzie, Hunter Warrick). East Liverpool 8 (Cohen Pease 4, Owen Fredritz 2, Nate Birch, Quintin Conrad).

Total fouls: Beaver Local 20, East Liverpool 14. Fouled out: None.