News Photo by James Andersen Alpena's Isaac Jore prepares to shoot while being defended by Traverse City West's Caleb Corwin (44) during a boys basketball game at Alpena High School on Friday.

It only took a few minutes for things to go from good to downright disappointing for the Alpena boys basketball team on Friday.

Alex Keene scored 15 points, Brady Stoerkel added 14 and Ryan Hayes chipped in with 12 as Traverse City West used a dominant fourth quarter to pull away from the Wildcats for a 67-56 victory at Alpena High School.

A three-pointer from Cam DeCaire gave Alpena (7-10) the lead, 49-48, with 7:48 left to play, but the Wildcats’ lead was brief. Keene tied the game on a free throw 24 seconds later and the Titans never trailed again.

Over the next several minutes the Titans went on a 13-2 run, forcing turnovers and turning those into points the Wildcats couldn’t get back. While Alpena managed to slow West down on the perimeter, West did a lot of its damage inside. Between Hays and Caleb Corwin working in the paint and Stoerkel among those driving inside and penetrating Alpena’s defense, the Wildcats had trouble stopping West.

“I thought we did a really good job of battling back, especially (toward the end of the third quarter), to come back and take the lead,” Alpena coach John Pintar said. “I think the difference in the end was just a couple minutes where we had some crucial turnovers, where not only were they turnovers, but they led to crucial points for them.”

It was a disappointing ending for the Wildcats who trailed for much of the game, but nonetheless managed to stay enough to keep the Titans honest.

Chris DeRocher led Alpena with 17 points, DeCaire added 14 and Logan Guthrie had 13.

“I thought we did a great job in the half court. Last time they destroyed us from the three-point line and I thought we defended the three-point line a lot better,” Pintar said. “But when you have as many turnovers as we did that turn into points…that’s too many against a quality opponent.”

West led 36-30 at halftime and pushed its lead up to 10 before Alpena finally found a rhythm. The Wildcats cut West’s lead to four before Andrew Herrick scored to put West up 44-38 left with 2:36 left in the period.

Needing a big shot to get going, the Wildcats got not one, but two of them. DeCaire drained a three-pointer with 1:51 to cut West’s lead to three on a shot that hit the front of the rim before rolling backward through the net. DeRocher followed with a triple 41 seconds later to tie the game.

A pair of buckets from Stoerkel in the final minute gave West the lead back, but Alpena wasn’t done yet as Bruz Copping beat the buzzer with a shot to make it 48-46 after 24 minutes.

DeCaire’s triple to open the fourth quarter had the Alpena bench buzzing, but it was the last basket Alpena scored for the next four minutes. Alpena came up empty-handed on several drives to the basket and committed turnovers on other trips down the floor, leaving West to pounce on repeated opportunities.

“It’s a tough team to defend. They’ve got guards that can drive, can shoot and ultimately guys that can score in different ways. They really test you the entire time,” Pintar said. “I thought we fought hard and did a lot of good things. You just can’t make as many mistakes as we did.”

Alpena opened the game on a 7-2 run, but West came storming back and overtook the Wildcats midway through the first quarter. Alpena kept things close, but West led 23-16 at the end of the period.

Alpena got achingly close to the lead in the second quarter and cut West’s lead to four points two different times. But West managed to stay a few steps ahead of the Wildcats, getting crucial baskets after Alpena scored. For the period, Alpena outscored West 14-13.

The Wildcats will play at Midland Dow on Tuesday.

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TC WEST (67): A. Keene 6 1-2 15; M. Barrientoz 2 0-0 4; B. Stoerkel 6 2-4 14; J. Fewins 3 0-0 7; N. Lukusa 2 2-2 7; R. Hayes 4 4-4 12; A. Herrick 1 0-0 2; C. Corwin 3 0-0 6.

ALPENA (56): L. Pinger 1 0-0 2; A. Goike 2 0-0 4; B. Copping 2 0-0 4; C. DeCaire 5 0-0 14; I. Jore 1 0-0 2; C. DeRocher 7 1-2 17; L. Guthrie 5 3-5 13.

James Andersen can be reached via email at sports@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5694. Follow James on Twitter @ja_alpenanews.