Norway’s Kody Hendricks, left, puts up a shot as Iron Mountain’s Charlie Gerhard defends on Friday, Feb. 9, 2018, in Iron Mountain, Mich. (Adam Niemi/Iron Mountain Daily News)

NORWAY — Iron Mountain thwarted a fourth-quarter rally by Norway in a 58-53 non-conference win on Friday.

Norway, down 11 points in the third quarter, made it a three-point game with a minute remaining in the game.

Marcus Johnson made 2 of 3 free throws in the final minute to break the Knights’ momentum. Johnson made 4 of 8 in the fourth quarter and scored 23 points on the night. Foster Wonders added 16 points.

“We knew coming down to Norway when they start four seniors, two of them for sure have been starting since they were sophomores, (Connor) Ortman and (Josh) Plante. They’re good athletes,” Iron Mountain head coach Bucky Johnson said. “They got a good team and we knew it’d be a battle. We were fully expecting that. I thought we stretched out our lead in the third and early fourth quarter. We didn’t do a good job finishing the game, but you got to credit them. Some of it my fault, the kids made poor decisions, but they’re a young team.”

Ortman had a game-high 24 points for Norway, while Plante had 14.

The Knights lost Plante’s dynamic skills when he fouled out of the game with 1:59 remaining.

“I thought we battled all night. The kids played real hard,” Norway head coach Jeff Gallino said. “We were down 11 at one point and fought back and made it a three-point game. Played together and that’s all we ask is to play hard for four quarters and I thought they did. Unfortunate to end up on the losing end, but we have another chance at them. We see them in the districts.”

Iron Mountain led by 12 points in the final minute of the third quarter.

Ortman hit four 3s on the night, including one in the fourth during Norway’s rally to tighten Iron Mountain’s lead to three points.

“We said at halftime we thought we could push the ball up off the transition,” Gallino said. “We were able to get some baskets and they were able to come back with baskets as well. It was an exciting basketball game.”

Johnson said it was a quality test for his team as the postseason nears.

“There was a good crowd here tonight. They have a good following and we have a good following. It was a highly anticipated game,” Johnson said. “I thought at times we did the right thing and other times we didn’t. It’s hard to simulate that atmosphere and those conditions in practice. At times we did well and at times we didn’t and we got to learn from that. I’m sure there’s going to be more. One game at a time and we’re trying to learn from our experiences.”

Iron Mountain JV won 39-30.

Norway plays at Forest Park on Tuesday, while Iron Mountain is at Kingsford.

Iron Mountain 12 16 17 13 — 58

Norway 6 16 12 19 — 53

IRON MOUNTAIN (58): Johnson 23, Wonders 16, Gerhard 10, Vicenzi 8, Tucker 1. FT: 10-18. F: 14. FG: 23-46. 3PT: 2-9 (Johnson 1, Wonders 1). Rebounds: 32 (Gerhard 12).

NORWAY (53): Ortman 24, Plante 14, Wilson 11, Faull 2, Hendricks 2. FT: 6-13. F: 14. 3PT: Ortman 4, Plante 2, Wilson 1. Rebounds: 29.