NEWPORT – The last time the Old Town boys basketball team left the Elmer R. Fisher Gymnasium with a victory was 1993.

So while Wednesday night’s 58-50 Big East Conference win over Nokomis may not have been an artistic success, the Indians were more than happy with the result.

“I don’t think we played as well as we’d like to have, but this has always been a tough place for us,” said Old Town coach Marty Clark.

The Indians, now 5-2, never trailed after senior forward Tyler Tracewski took a Matt Curtis feed for a layup good for an 8-7 lead midway through the first quarter.

And while Old Town built a lead of as many as 12 points on six unanswered points by Tracewski late in the third quarter, the rebuilding Warriors battled back, cutting the deficit to as few as five points on four occasions in the fourth quarter.

“It was a pretty tough battle,” said Tracewski, who led Old Town offensively with 15 points – on 7-of-8 shooting from the field – and seven rebounds. “They played well and you have to give them credit, but we were able to pull it out.”

Cory Miller added 14 points and eight rebounds for the Indians, while Troy Conary came off the bench to add 10 points, including six in the second quarter to help Old Town build a 24-18 halftime lead.

But even that margin provided Nokomis reason for second-half hope in that the Warriors scored the final five points of the second period on a 3-pointer by Evan McDaniel and a layup by Seth Bradstreet to cut an 11-point deficit to six.

“We got out to an early lead when we played them at home,” said Tracewski, referring to Old Town’s 63-42 win over Nokomis on Dec. 19. “But it’s a lot tougher to play on the road than at home.”

Each team had 19 turnovers in the contest, but Old Town was able to capitalize better on the shot opportunities it got. The Indians made 53 percent (20 of 38) of their field-goal attempts compared to 30 percent (17 of 56) for Nokomis. The Warriors also struggled from beyond the arc, making 4 of 24 3-point tries.

Sophomore Tyler Norris led 2-4 Nokomis offensively, coming off the bench to score 13 points. He scored nine in the fourth quarter, including a low-post basket and a three-point play off an offensive rebound on back-to-back possessions to rally the Warriors to within 55-50 in the game’s final minute.

But Curtis countered with two free throws, and Matt Petrie (nine points) followed with 1 of 2 from the line to provide the Indians the insurance they needed.

“I think it came down to just a little extra work in the second half, getting some second shots and loose balls,” said Clark. “We knew Nokomis would be scrappy and we knew they really needed this one to get some Heal Points, and they played hard.”

Junior guard Chris Dunlop added 10 points for Nokomis, while Bradstreet scored nine.

INDIANS 58, WARRIORS 50

Old Town (5-2) Nokomis (2-4)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Thurston 1 7 1 2 3 Gee 1 8 4

Bouchard 0 3 1 3 1 Bradstreet 3 9

Curtis 1 2 4 4 6 Dunlop 3 9 10

Petrie 3 4 3 6 9 McDaniel 3 10 0 0 8

Tracewski 7 8 1 4 15 Oldenburg 0 0

St. Louis 0 0 0 0 0 Hobart 0 3 0

Conary 3 4 3 5 10 N. Cahill 1 4

Miller 6 9 1 4 14 Patten 1 2 2

Shaw 0 1 0 0 0 Norris 5 9 3 13

Wing 0 2 0 0

Totals 21 38 14 28 58 Totals 17 56 12 23 50

Old Town 12 24 43 58

Nokomis 8 18 33 50

3-pt. goals ? Old Town (2-9): Conary 1-1, Miller 1-2, Thurston 0-3, Bouchard 0-3; Nokomis (4-24): McDaniel 2-5, Bradstreet 1-4, Dunlop 1-7, N. Cahill 0-2, Gee 0-6

Attendance: 450 (est.)

JV: Nokomis 77-63