Staff photo / Preston Byers Lowellville’s Josh Pazel (1) finishes a layup against Springfield’s Marco Gentile during Tuesday’s game in Lowellville.

LOWELLVILLE — Things are just starting to click into place for Lowellville, which managed to pull off a come-from-behind win vs. Springfield on Tuesday.

After leading by as many as nine points in the first half, Lowellville surrendered its advantage in the second before jumping in front late and holding on to beat the Tigers 47-40.

“We’ve been playing so well the last couple weeks. It’s finally coming together,” Lowellville head coach Tony Matisi said. “They’re understanding things. Our young kids are learning; they’re not playing like young kids anymore. It’s coming together at the right time.”

In the first quarter of Tuesday’s Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference (MVAC) Scarlet game, the Rockets used their size and athleticism to control the glass and much of the action early. They did the same in the second, but to an even greater effect, and enjoyed a 10-1 run over a four-minute span to widen its lead to 23-14.

Springfield momentarily cut the deficit to four, although a Drew Modelski basket in the final minute of the period gave the Rockets a 25-19 edge at halftime.

The Tigers emerged from the locker room reenergized and more than ready to take over the game, which they did immediately. In less than two minutes, Springfield scored eight unanswered points to go ahead by two.

“We shot the ball a little better,” Springfield head coach Jeff Brink said. “I think it was just a little ball movement, hit a couple shots for us and got us going a little bit.”

For the rest of the quarter, the teams went back-and-forth, changing leaders and tying each other three times, including with 2.4 seconds remaining, when Modelski made a pair of free throws to send the game to the fourth knotted at 32.

Despite Modelski scoring successive buckets in the first two minutes of the fourth quarter, the Rockets nearly unraveled in the span of a minute.

A Landon Dyer basket was quickly followed by a go-head Isaac Dyer 3-pointer, and then a Ricky Willrich technical foul allowed Brayden Baird to make two free throws and put the Tigers up 39-36 with 5:11 to go.

Modelski pulled Lowellville within a point with three minutes remaining, but Springfield, recognizing the situation, appeared content to dribble and pass the ball along the perimeter for the rest of the game.

However, after nearly a minute, Lowellville freshman Carter Hvisdak tipped and retrieved a Tiger pass, taking it to the other end and finishing a layup to put the Rockets back on top 40-39 with 2:06 left.

“That put us up, it allowed us to stay in our 2-3 [zone defense] and we didn’t have to come out in man[-to-man] then,” Matisi said of the Hvisdak’s play. “It was big. It was big giving us the lead and allowing us to do what we wanted to do defensively.”

The steal and fast-break basket instantly flipped the fortunes of the teams. Moments later, Isaac Dyer missed a pair of free throws that could have either tied the game or given Springfield a lead. With 1:09 to go, Modelski laid the ball up on the other end to make it a three-point game.

The Tigers would get only a little bit closer as a result of a made foul shot before Hvisdak and Jayden Coon iced the game at the free-throw line.

“We got sloppy. It was a bad pass,” Brink said. “Give them credit, they made a play, but we turned the ball over and missed two crucial free throws — well, three out of four actually — and a couple bad shots. I thought we took a couple shots that were rushed, that were low-quality and low-percentage. And you can’t do that in a tight game. I mean, a low-percentage shot in a tight game is basically a turnover.”

Modelski led all scorers with 17 points, including 12 in the second half. Coon had 14, and Hvisdak added nine, six of which came in the fourth quarter. Isaac Dyer contributed a team-high 11 for the Tigers, while Baird and Matt Wymer each chipped in eight and Landon Dyer had six.

Springfield (7-6, 4-4 in MVAC Scarlet) has lost its last three after a 7-3 start to the season. The Tigers will try to get back into the win column on Friday at Sebring.

Tuesday’s win marked the fifth in the last seven games for Lowellville (6-5, 5-5 in MVAC Scarlet), which began the season 1-3. The Rockets will be on the road Friday at Campbell.