CROTHERSVILLE — Trinity Lutheran freshman Jack Stuckwisch hit a 3-pointer with 3.3 seconds to play to send Friday night’s county dual against Crothersville into overtime.

Then, with 30 seconds left in OT, Luke Coomler hit a big 3-pointer to put the Cougars up 59-56.

Those big shots helped propel Trinity to a 64-58 victory over Crothersville.

“My coaches and teammates just encourage me to shoot,” Stuckwisch said. “My teammates gave me great passes, and they looked for me. We played as a team together.”

Coach Brad Dickey also liked the way Trinity helped get its shooters the ball in key moments on Friday.

“It’s awesome, and it’s awesome that our team knows he has a role and they help him to do it,” Dickey said.

Trinity started the game hot. Eli Ballard had two fast-break layups and Coomler drilled a 3-pointer to put the Cougars up 7-0 in the first minute and a half of the contest.

The play of Ballard was steady throughout the night as he led Trinity with 21 points.

“Eli does a ton for our team,” Dickey said. “We’re real happy to have him.”

Crothersville settled in and got some buckets inside from Curtis Thompson, and Dirk Crater hit a basket, as well.

Trinity took a 13-10 at the end of the first quarter.

Preston West got it going for the Tigers in the second period, finishing acrobatically at the cup and getting to the free throw line.

West set up Lucas Hilton underneath for an easy basket to give Trinity a 26-24 with 10 seconds to play, then on the other end, Peyton Pollert grabbed an offensive rebound and scored the basket before the buzzer sounded to tie things up at 26 heading into halftime.

Crothersville got out to a 37-33 lead in the third quarter, but a couple of free throws from Ballard and an and-one from Levi Pottschmidt put the Cougars back in front 38-37.

Back and forth the two teams went. West finished another layup in traffic to regain the lead for Crothersville, and the Tigers took a 39-38 lead into the final frame.

West and Thompson continued to score at will for the Tigers, extending their lead out to as much as 50-43 with 2:13 to play.

Stuckwisch then got fouled on a 3-point attempt for Trinity, and he made two of three. Stuckwisch then hit a long two to make it a one-score game at 50-47.

After a Crothersville turnover, Stuckwisch couldn’t convert on a 3-pointer to tie the game, so Trinity had to foul. Beau Napier went to the line and made 1-of-2, putting the Tigers up 51-47, then Stuckwisch came right back down and hit a 3-pointer to make it 51-50 with 27.2 seconds to play.

Trinity fouled West, who made both free throws, and that’s when Stuckwisch hit the big 3-pointer to tie the game up at 53 with 3.3 seconds left.

“We showed a lot of care,” Dickey said on his team getting down in the fourth but coming back.

In addition to Ballard’s 21 points, Stuckwisch scored 15, Pottschmidt had nine, Coomler nine, Kowan Gross six, Pollert two and Kole Shewmaker two.

Someone who didn’t score for Trinity but played big minutes after Levi Froedge went down was Josh Conrad.

“He guarded the wing in a way that nobody else was guarding,” Dickey said. “We hope Froedge is OK, but it was neat a good kid with experience stepped up and made positive plays.”

Crothersville was paced by seniors West and Thompson, who scored 24 points and 23 points, respectively. Both players had huge buckets in huge moments.

Napier added six points, Hilton had three and Crater had two.

Throughout the whole game on Friday night, it was a raucous atmosphere. Both fan bases and student sections from each program brought a lot of energy.

“This scene doesn’t get any better,” Dickey said. “Crothersville did an amazing job tonight on hosting the event and then playing super basketball during the event. All credit to Crothersville for such a super night.”

Crothersville (5-8) will be at Rising Sun tonight for a varsity-only tip at 7 p.m. and Trinity (5-10) will also be on the road tonight at Jac-Cen-Del at 7:30 p.m.