EAST SULLIVAN – Two years ago, this would have been a game the Narraguagus of Harrington boys basketball team would have found a way to lose.

But this winter, the Knights are finding ways to win, as they did Friday night with a 47-46 survival of local rival Sumner in a Class C battle at Clint Ritchie Gymnasium.

Narraguagus shot just 28 percent (20 of 71) from the field, but overcame that with strong offensive rebounding and a defense that forced 20 turnovers to improve its record to 7-1 on the season.

“We didn’t shoot well,” said Narraguagus coach Peter Wholley, “but I told the kids that we still were able to win without shooting well, so that was a plus.”

The Knights are now just one victory shy of their win total for the 2006-07 season, when they advanced to the Eastern C preliminary round before being ousted by Dexter.

Two years ago, Narraguagus went 3-15.

“The kids have come a long way in two years,” said Wholley. “They won three games two years ago, and a lot of these kids were on that team. They’ve come a long ways, and now it’s a lot better to be 7-1 than 1-7.”

Sophomore center Stephen Strout led the Knights against Sumner with 18 points and 14 rebounds, and he accounted for 10 of Narraguagus’ 17 points that came directly after offensive rebounds.

Junior guard Blake Chase added 11 points, and fought through a tough shooting night to give Narraguagus the lead for good at 39-36 on a 3-point goal with 5:46 left in the game.

The Knights extended that lead to as much as 47-42 on a free throw by Chase Kennedy with 1:40 left, but Sumner’s Woody Huber hit a runner and Scott Ulrich scored on a follow-up shot with 1:17 remaining to pull the Tigers to within 47-46.

The game came down to one final play, with Sumner inbounding the ball along the right sideline with 10.3 seconds left.

Huber, who scored a game-high 23 points, got the ball but faced a defensive surprise, a 2-3 zone put up by Narraguagus to deny him the chance to drive to the lane.

“They were probably were going to run a pick and roll,” said Wholley, “and I said the best way to stop that is the 2-3 zone.”

So Huber went to the baseline instead and got a clean look, only to have his 15-foot jumper hit off the back of the rim. Two Sumner rebounders got their hands on the ball, but neither could control it before it went out of bounds with 1.3 seconds to play.

“We still got a great shot,” said Sumner coach Walter Crabtree. “What we were going to do was live or die with Woody Huber taking that last shot, and he created a nice shot for himself that could easily have gone in.

He’s a smart kid, so [the zone] could have thrown the coaching staff off a little more than him, because he recognized where he could get some penetration and created a shot for himself. I thought it was going to go.”

Huber, a junior guard, scored 14 points after intermission, and also contributed seven rebounds and three assists. Senior center Justin Brenton added eight rebounds and four blocked shots for 2-4 Sumner.

Narraguagus, coming off a 70-64 win over Machias on Thursday night, was able to accelerate this game’s tempo late in the first quarter and took its largest lead at 18-10 when Strout blocked a shot at one end and Chase hit a 3-pointer on the ensuing fast break with 7:00 left in the first half.

But Sumner was able to turn the rest of the game into a halfcourt affair, and initially clawed back to within 24-20 by intermission thanks to five second-quarter points by senior guard Denton Johnson.

Sumner opened the second half with eight unanswered points on four Huber free throws and jumpers by Ulrich and Matt Boyle to take a 28-24 lead, but Strout countered with eight points, including a tip-in with 16 seconds left, as Narraguagus regained a 36-34 lead by the end of the period.

Brenton tied the game on a follow-up shot with 6:03 left in the game before Chase countered from long range on Narraguagus’ next possession to give the Knights the lead for good.

eclark@bangordailynews.net

990-8045

KNIGHTS 47, TIGERS 46

Narraguagus (7-1) Sumner (2-4)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Beal 1 8 0 1 3 Brenton 3 3 0 6

Greene 1 6 0 0 2 Johnson 3 5 7

Dorr 2 5 0 0 4 Ulrich 3 6 0 6

Chase 3 20 3 6 11 Huber 9 15 23

Strout 9 16 0 0 18 Leighton 0 0

Kennedy 3 12 1 3 7 Weaver 1 6 2

Smith 1 4 0 0 2 Boyle 1 6 2

Ramsey 0 0 0 0 0 Ingalls 0 3 0

Totals 20 71 4 10 47 Totals 20 44 46

Narraguagus 15 24 36 47

Sumner 10 20 34 46

3-pt. goals – Narraguagus (3-18): Chase 2-11, Beal 1-5, Dorr 0-1, Smith 0-1; Sumner (1-4): Huber 1-2, Boyle 0-2

JV: Sumner 66-43

Attendance: 300 (est.)