“The lead was 11, but we knew St. Anthony wasn’t going to stop,” Niebrugge noted. “Kudos to Coach Rincker for the way his team battled back. For me, that clock just couldn’t run fast enough.”

Niebrugge was right. Just when the Indians seemed to be in possession of the game and the momentum, the Bulldogs began their surge.

Brock Fearday and Kyle Stewart scored before the third period ended to cut the margin to seven, 34-27. After Eric Kollman hit a short jumper for Altamont to open the final eight minutes, the Bulldogs responded with an 8-0 run.

Craig Croy made a pair of free throws and a short jumper. Stewart then scored, got fouled and had a chance for a three-point play. He missed his free throw, but Griffin Sehy grabbed the rebound and quickly scored again. With 3:49 to play in the game, St. Anthony was within a single point, 36-35.

“I’m super proud of the way the guys battled back,” Rincker said. “They could have just gone away, but that’s not who these kids are. Our shots weren’t falling, but they kept battling. We gave ourselves a chance. We were only a shot or two away from getting over the hump.”

But that never came.

Jared Hammer made a pair of foul shots, Klimpel added a bucket and Hammer knocked down two more free throws to expand the Indians lead to 42-35 with 2:49 still left.

Croy scored twice more to get SAHS within 42-39, but the Indians were too strong at the charity stripe in the final 55 seconds. Klimpel, Tyler Robbins and Robinson combined to make 7-of-8 foul shots down the stretch to secure the victory and ignite the celebration.

“This is the most evenly balanced I’ve seen this conference in my 10 years here,” Niebrugge said. “There are very good coaches in this league and the teams play hard. This was a very good win for us.”

Altamont never trailed in the game. Robbins and Klimpel accounted for the first five points. Max Koenig and Croy scored to get St. Anthony within 5-4. It was a two-point margin when Robbins and Hammer hit back-to-back shots from long range to stake the Indians to a 14-6 advantage. It was 16-10 at the end of the period.

Both teams had difficulty scoring in the second quarter. Altamont was just 1-for-8 from the floor, but still owned a 20-16 edge at intermission.

Robinson led Altamont and shared game-high scoring honors with 12 points, with eight of those coming in that third period when the Indians built their lead.

“To be the MVP in this tournament is quite an honor,” Niebrugge said about his junior. “Mason runs the point and can also play power forward. He just wants to win and will do whatever it takes for this team.”

Klimpel was also in double figures with 10 points. AHS shot 40 percent for the game, connecting on 14-of-35 shots overall. They were 6-for-18 from behind the arc and 14-of-19 from the foul line.

The Indians ended with a 6-1 advantage from three-point range and a 14-4 edge at the free throw line.

Croy also had 12 points for the Bulldogs and Stewart added 10. St. Anthony was 18-of-44 overall, a 41 percent clip. From inside the arc, they knocked down 17-of-28 attempts, a red-hot 61 percent. Their long-range shooting was a different story. They made only 1-of-16 attempts.

Altamont also owned a 24-17 edge on the boards, another key to the game, according to Rincker.

“We had some good looks, but our shots just weren’t going in,” the St. Anthony coach noted. “When your shots aren’t going in, you have to get some second chance points. But we simply didn’t do the things we needed to on the glass.

“But we’re not going to hold our heads or pout about this,” Rincker added. “Altamont is a very good team and they deserved to win tonight.”

The Indians improved to 19-5 on the season.

The Bulldogs are now 14-11. They will return to action at home Thursday against St. Elmo/Brownstown in a regular-season NTC contest.

And you might want to mark you calendar for Tuesday, Feb. 15. That’s when Altamont will travel to St. Anthony for the NTC regular-season finale. There’s a good chance the regular season title could be on the line that night.