News Photo by Owen Kinzey Alpena’s Easton Srebnik, right, prepares to take a shot during the second half of a boys basketball game on Tuesday at Alpena High School.

ALPENA — The Alpena High boys basketball team played another intense and down-to-the-wire game on Tuesday. The Wildcats took on the Sault Ste. Marie Blue Devils and won with a final score of 47-40.

Alpena’s ability to score consistently and keep up with the Blue Devils offensively was its key to the win.

“Tonight we were able to get the lead and maintain the lead. I really thought a lot of that was defending well and getting the rebounds,” Alpena coach John Pintar said. “Overall, we were holding them to one shot per possession, which was key.”

Sault Ste. Marie started the game off by scoring the first points and gaining some early momentum. Alpena was quick to fire back with a couple of threes between Connor Cameron and Tucker Bright.

The Wildcats were led defensively by Caleb McEwen during the first quarter. McEwen recorded two blocks within a minute and was a great rebounder as well.

By the end of the first quarter, Alpena trailed 12-11.

The second quarter was an offensive battle where Alpena narrowly outscored Sault Ste. Marie. Alpena scored a total of 14 points during the quarter, compared to the Blue Devils’ 13.

Easton Srebnik led the Wildcats to its highest-scoring quarter, racking up double-digit points.

The game was tied at 25-25 going into the half.

Alpena separated itself from Sault Ste. Marie coming out of the break. The Wildcats played phenomenal defense, only allowing three points throughout the entire third quarter.

Defensively, Alpena forced several turnovers leading to easy scores and giving itself a comfortable lead.

“We had a really good third quarter offensively and we had a great quarter defensively. We held them to just three points which was huge towards the win,” Pintar said. “On Friday against Gaylord, I feel like (our defense) really took a step up in the right direction.”

Nine points was the difference entering the fourth quarter. With a 37-28 lead going into the final minutes, all the Wildcats had to do was hold on to the lead.

Inbound difficulties along with a strong press defense from Sault Ste. Marie’s defense led to a little bit of trouble at the end.

Once the Wildcats figured out how to beat the press, the game was over.

Alpena started to get the ball down the floor leading to a few easy two-on-one opportunities. After Alpena made these shots, the Wildcats won with a final score of 47-40.

“Tonight we were able to play through the pressure at the end of the game. Unfortunately, we haven’t been in a lot of those situations this year, but we got it done and won in the end,” Pintar said.

Easton Srebnik and Tucker Bright were the leading scorers for the Wildcats on Tuesday. Srebnik finished with a game-high 14 points while Bright finished with 13.

Leading the Blue Devils in scoring was Nathaniel Koepp with 12 points. John Gravelle and Max Scott both finished with seven points each.

The Wildcats take on Traverse City Central on Friday.