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Boys basketball: Flivvers edge Houghton

Houghton's Wes Hyslop looks for a teammate as Kingsford's Andrew Mann defends on Thursday in Houghton. (Courtesy Photo/Paul Peterson)

HOUGHTON — You could not slice it any thinner than Thursday night’s Kingsford-Houghton boys basketball game.

The visiting Flivvers emerged with a 63-62 win, thanks to a free throw by Tyler Beauchamp with 3.2 seconds left to play.

Kingsford then held its breath when a half-court shot by George Butvilas of the Gremlins bounced off the back of the rim.

“For a preview of next week’s district tourney opener between us, it served as a heck of a of a show,” Kingsford coach Dan Olkkonen said. “The fans got their money’s worth tonight.”

It was an all too familiar ending for Houghton coach Jerard Lawson.

“I’m still not sure if George’s shot would have beaten the buzzer,” Lawson said. “But this is the fourth one-point game we’ve lost in a month. And that’s not something we want to make a habit of.”

Olkkonen liked Beauchamp’s performance.

“I thought it was a great game,” Olkkonen said. “Tyler had a fantastic game for us and Houghton has two great players in Brad Sirard and George Butvilas. This was a case of two teams who are highly skilled … and who gave it their best.”

The outcome dropped the Gremlins to 9-7 on the season, while Kingsford has the same mark.

The two teams battled back-and-forth in the opening quarter with Houghton coming out with a 19-18 margin at quarter’s end behind Sirards’s eight points.

Beauchamp and Luke Terrian pushed the Flivvers to a 33-32 halftime margin and then moved to a 50-43 lead after three periods as Beauchamp and Nate Rutter stood out.

“I thought Nate Rutter and Luke Terrian really stepped up for us, they made some big plays,” Olkkonen said.

Butvilas, who scored nine of his 18 points in the final quarter, boosted the Gremlins into a 50-50 deadlock early in the final stanza.

The two teams traded the lead like a hot potato the rest of the way.

A triple by Will Romano and a big three-point play by Wes Hyslop had the locals ahead by a 62-57 margin with under two minutes left.

But Beauchamp nailed a clutch 3-pointer and a basket by Andre Mann knotted it at 62-62 with 1:02 left to play.

Beauchamp, who totaled a game-high 29 points in the game, was fouled going to the basket in the late going. He missed the first free throw before knocking down the winner.

Sirard paced the Gremlins with 20 points and also had seven rebounds and three assists. Butvilas added eight rebounds to go with his 18 points.

Sam Keskimaki tossed in eight points and four steals, while Hyslop netted seven more points.

Luke Terrian added 12 points for Kingsford along with 10 points and nine rebounds from the hard-working Rutter.

Lawson, whose team goes to Escanaba Friday, said he is seeking a consistent finish from his team.

Kingsford meets top-ranked Iron Mountain on Saturday.

Kingsford 18 15 17 13 — 63

Houghton 19 13 11 19 — 62

KINGSFORD (63): Rutter 10, Beauchamp 29, Kopp 4, Terrian 12, Mann 6, Galeazzi 2. FT: 10-15. Rebounds: 28 (Rutter 9). Fouls:12. 3PT: Beauchamp 6, Rutter 3, Terrian 2.

HOUGHTON (62): Sirard 20, Jurva 2, Butvilas 18, Wyslop 7, Romano 3, Keskimaki 8, Scott 4. FT: 5-8. Rebounds: 27 (Butvilas 8). F: 8. 3PT: Sirard 4, Butvilas 3, Keskimaki 2, Wyslop 1, Romano 1.

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