Staff photo / Dan Hiner Springfield’s Matt Wymer lines up a 3-point attempt during Thursday’s game against Western Reserve in Berlin Center.

BERLIN CENTER — There were 7.8 seconds left and the Western Reserve boys basketball team had the ball.

Josh Klasic had just enough time to get off a last-second shot, but his 3-point attempt was a little too long.

Springfield held on to beat the Blue Devils 51-49 on Thursday night in Berlin Center.

“Our guys on the ball had such good ball pressure, they had trouble getting the pass off,” Springfield head coach Jeff Brink said. “Ball pressure was key in the second half.”

The Tigers scored the first basket of the game, but a 7-0 run put the Blue Devils (12-8, 9-7 Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference Scarlet Tier) ahead 7-3. The Tigers battled back, however, and only trailed 17-14 by the end of the first.

The teams continued to clash in the second quarter, and the Tigers (12-10, 10-6 MVAC Scarlet) took a 28-26 lead into halftime.

A 3-pointer by Dom Riccardi tied the game at 37 with 2:20 to play in the third. A pair of free throws by Isaac LaMorticella gave the Tigers the lead with 44.2 seconds left in the quarter, and they held a 43-41 advantage heading into the fourth.

An and-one by Connor Cochran put the Blue Devils ahead 44-43 with just over six minutes to play.

But the lead changed hands again as Springfield held a 50-49 lead with 22.9 seconds left. The Blue Devils had the ball, but they were called for an illegal screen with just over 11 seconds to play.

LaMorticella split a pair of free throws to push the Tigers’ lead to 51-49 in the final eight seconds. Springfield’s defense then put the game away.

“We had Connor Cochran coming off a screen, going to the corner. Thought we could get two guys on him and get Jackson (Young) on a slip to the middle of the lane,” Western Reserve coach Joe Seresky said. “I think we had it. I don’t know what the confusion was that stopped them from throwing it, but it is what it is.”

Riccardi led the Blue Devils with 16 points. Cochran chipped in 11 and Josh Klasic added 10.

Springfield’s Carson Cunningham led all scorers with 19 points, and LaMorticella added 12 points. But the Tigers relied on a variety of scoring options as well. Aiden Appel, Matt Wymer and Marco Gentile each scored 6 points.

“Matt Wymer’s had a great year, does a lot of the intangible things for us this season and doesn’t get a lot of accolades because he doesn’t score 20 every night,” Brink said. “Marco Gentile coming in tonight, Dante got into a little foul trouble. Marco came off the bench and gave us great minutes. That’s what we’ve been getting from some of our younger guys, so I’m proud of the way our bench stepped up.”

Western Reserve still has some games left. They will travel to Indiana to play in the Hoosiers gym.

They will be the second team from the area to make the journey to the gym from the famous hoops movie. Newton Falls made the drive for a pair of games during the holiday season.

Meanwhile, the Tigers’ regular season came to an end, and they will travel to Valley Christian for their Division VI tournament opener on Feb. 21.

The Tigers fell to McDonald on Jan. 24 in New Middletown. Since then, they have won five of their last six. And Brink is pleased with how his team has looked heading into the tournament.

“Down the stretch, all these league teams have played real solid, fundamental basketball,” Brink said. “We played those teams well. So every game you play, especially on the road, you know it’s gonna be a challenge.”