Through three quarters, Sturgeon’s offense was clicking and put the Community R-6 boys in a tough situation.

After the final few minutes, none of that mattered anymore.

Community R-6 Senior Night Photo Gallery

The Trojans outscored their Central Activities Conference foe 17-3 in the fourth quarter to erase a 42-33 deficit after the third quarter to win 50-45. Senior Gavin Allen finished with a double-double of 19 points and 12 rebounds on Senior Night while Mason Carroll matched his 19 points after posting 10 points in the fourth quarter, including back-to-back 3-pointers to give Community (13-11, 5-3 CAC) its first lead since the second quarter.

Head coach Tad Shotten said Sturgeon (6-15, 2-5 CAC) was formidable through one half, hitting seven of its eight 3-pointers in the first half. Intensity was what he thought the Trojans were missing.

“We really won it with our defense,” Shotten said. “You’re behind so you’ve got to string a few stops together.”

After clicking through a majority of the game, the Bulldogs couldn’t end a possession without a turnover as Community didn’t give them much room. Pretty soon, the Trojans were down five points, then two and finally ahead 46-45 with a minute remaining.

Allen, who is in his third year with the Trojans, said the team was definitely ready in the second half after Sturgeon’s Isaac Bolles finished two quarters with 16 of his team-high 18 points, draining all four of his 3-pointers during that time.

“The halftime speech wasn’t the nicest, but it fired us up and got us going,” Allen said. “(Bolles) for their team just heated up at the 3-point line. After that, we made it a priority to guard him and then we fed the ball down low and then started hitting our shots all over.”

For his performance like Friday night, Allen said the energy he showed is not unlike the energy the Trojans need to show down the home stretch. Community has two games between the Sturgeon contest and districts so that energy and “internal motivation” need to be there until the end.

He said it also helps when he has great teammates to rely on like Carroll, who heated up late similar to how Bolles simmered earlier in the game.

“Everyone was contributing and then Carroll hit two 3s in a row,” Allen said. “I’m just like, ‘Give him the ball.’”

Shotten said Allen and Carroll stood out and also were part of the improving defensive effort along with seniors Logan Johnson (two years) and Tucker Robnett (four years), who had a layup in stride on a pass from Allen to make it 48-45 with 31.7 seconds left. First-year player Ayden Meranda received the start along with other three Trojan seniors, Shotten said, to signify how important Friday’s game was to the team.

Shotten is in his second season with Community following a campaign the Trojans finished 8-18. With Community guaranteed at least a 500 record going into districts, he said the seniors have been a big help in his rebuilding efforts.

“They’ve grown up a lot just in the two years I’ve been here,” Shotten said. “We’re building and growing together, and I couldn’t be more proud of them.”

Allen said it took some time last season to understand what Shotten wanted out of the team. As the season progressed, the Trojans became closer and have been better as a unit this year.

“We became more like a family and understood what he wants out of us and he understood what we want too,” Allen said. “That’s helped us this year and perform how we want to.”

Community played at conference foe Glasgow (16-6, 5-2 CAC) at 7:30 p.m. Friday before facing Cairo (13-9, 5-1 CAC) at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at home, following a 65-33 loss in the first meeting this season.