For a moment Friday night in the fourth quarter, the outcome seemed to hang in the balance as Crater and Springfield traded baskets in the Midwestern League boys basketball game in Central Point.

Then in what seemed like a blink of an eye, the Comets were off and rolling and it was no contest at all as they ultimately racked up an 80-62 triumph.

Junior point guard Julien Grant was at the heart of his team’s sprint to the finish, where Crater (9-9, 3-3 MWL) turned a 55-54 lead into a blowout in what was a 31-point final quarter.

Grant scored on a putback and then had a steal that was quickly converted into a corner 3-pointer by freshman L.J. Leland, and then the floodgates truly opened as Malachi Barlow drilled a 3-pointer from the top of the key and Grant pulled in a rebound and pushed the ball ahead quickly for a transition layup by Leland.

That 10-0 run was more than enough to take the steam out of Springfield (0-16, 0-6), which had pulled even at 49-all to start the fourth quarter but wasn’t able to mount a final push.

Grant authored a strong all-around effort with 10 points, eight assists, six rebounds, three blocks and two steals for Crater, while Elijah Bryant had 17 points and four rebounds and Barlow finished with 14 points and three boards.

The freshman duo of Tremaine Smith and Leland created a promising look at the future for Crater, with Smith knocking down five 3-pointers to net 19 points with three steals and two boards and Leland connecting on three 3s for 15 points with two assists and two rebounds.

Their presence has been helpful for a Comets team that has faced injury and illness throughout the season, with senior star Kyle Bittle most noticeably absent and unavailable to return after undergoing a lower leg surgery Thursday.

Vinnie Trinka led Springfield with 19 points.

SPRINGFIELD (62): Lo’ser 8, Petersen 2, Miller 10, Rasmussen 2, Whelan 6, Arellano 13, Trinka 19, James 0, Floyd 2. Totals: 25 9-10 62.

CRATER (80): Rodriguez 0, Leland 15, Bryant 17, Smith 19, Converse 5, Grant 10, Barlow 14, Darnell 0, Cole 0. Totals: 28 14-20 80.

Springfield 15 16 18 13 — 62

Crater 21 17 11 31 — 80

3-point goals — Springfield 3 (Trinka 3), Crater 10 (Smith 5, Leland 3, Barlow 1, Converse 1.

THURSTON 55, ASHLAND 42: At Springfield, Ashland put forth a good challenge but couldn’t get over the hump against third-ranked Thurston in the MWL setback.

The Grizzlies moved to 9-9 overall and 2-4 in league play, while the Colts earned their sixth straight win to go to 15-3 and 6-0, respectively.

CHURCHILL 63, EAGLE POINT 53: At Eagle Point, host Eagle Point lost its third game in the last four outings in a close MWL contest with Churchill.

The Eagles dropped to 7-12 overall and 2-4 in MWL play, while the Lancers moved to 9-8 and 4-2.

PHOENIX 72, KLAMATH UNION 47: At Phoenix, Brayden Decker and Lucas Wihtol dropped in four 3-pointers apiece and Phoenix was dialed in from deep with 13 treys overall in the Skyline Conference romp.

Martin Ortega led the charge for the Pirates (12-6, 6-1 Skyline) with 19 points, while Wihtol and Decker had 17 apiece and Tobias Akpan chipped in 14 points to create a balanced attack.

Landon Bogatay scored 17 points to lead Klamath Union (6-13, 2-5).

KLAMATH UNION (47): Lassett-Hankins 0, Petersen 14, Xu 0, Vannarath 0, Glidden 3, Bogatay 17, Johnson 0, Coffman 9, Watah 4, Saluskin 0. Totals: 16 10-17 47.

PHOENIX (72): Decker 17, Phillips 0, Pyeatt 5, McQueen 0, Akpan 14, Ortega 19, Dobbins 0, Roman 0, Wihtol 17. Totals: 25 9-14 72.

Klamath Union 10 12 10 15 — 47

Phoenix 11 23 18 20 — 72

3-point goals — Klamath Union 5 (Petersen 3, Bogatay 1, Coffman 1), Phoenix 13 (Decker 4, Wihtol 4, Ortega 3, Pyeatt 1, Akpan 1). Fouled out — Glidden. Technical fouls — Ortega.

CASCADE CHRISTIAN 73, BROOKINGS-HARBOR 37: Cascade Christian erased all doubt on whether head coach Brian Morse would record his 699th career victory with a 22-0 first quarter that set the tone in the Southern Oregon Conference home win.

Bryley Richardson scored 11 of his 20 points in that first quarter for the fifth-ranked Challengers (13-4, 5-0 SOC), who relied mostly on their reserve players for the final three quarters.

Richardson also provided five assists and three rebounds, while Brady Kleker had 13 points, five rebounds and three assists and Hudson Gotzman added 15 points.

Freshman Andy Alvarez collected eight points, nine rebounds, four blocks and three assists in extended action against the Bruins (3-16, 1-4).

BROOKINGS-HARBOR (37): Carlson 6, Hatch 8, Spitael 4, Downing 11, Garcia 0, Austin 2, Lampley 1, Taylor 3, Bavaro 2. Totals: 14 7-18 37.

CASCADE CHRISTIAN (73): Richardson 20, Fronckowiak 0, Kleker 13, Casebeer 0, Willard 6, Farmer 2, Snowden 4, Gotzman 15, Alvarez 8, Beamish 0, Murphy 2, Darland 3. Totals: 32 2-2 73.

Brookings-Harbor 0 15 11 11 — 37

Cascade Christian 22 17 23 11 — 73

3-point goals — Brookings-Harbor 2 (Downing 1, Taylor 1), Cascade Christian 7 (Gotzman 3, Richardson 2, Kleker 1, Darland 1).

ST. MARY’S 52, NORTH VALLEY 50: St. Mary’s outscored North Valley 15-6 in the second quarter to take a 30-27 at halftime lead, and held on down the stretch for a Southern Oregon Conference win.

Kent David provided a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds and C.J. Seggelink was just shy of that mark with 11 points and nine rebounds for the Crusaders (10-7, 4-1 SOC).

Nolan Hensman tallied six of his nine points in the fourth quarter to help boost St. Mary’s.

Jonas Hemsley (13 points), Dane Kissel (12 points) and Kevin Champion (11 points) led the way for North Valley (7-13, 3-3).

NORTH VALLEY (50): Brazier 0, Kissel 12, Hemsley 13, Allison 1, Champion 11, Smith 6, Freedman 7.

ST. MARY’S (52): A.J. Zimmerman 0, Hensman 9, King 6, David 19, T. Zimmerman 5, Seggelink 11, Chmelir 2, Kiene 0, Primerano 0.

North Valley 21 6 12 11 — 50

St. Mary’s 15 15 13 9 — 52

Girls Basketball

EAGLE POINT 73, CHURCHILL 27: At Eugene, Eagle Point put Churchill in its rearview mirror early on and pulled away for a resounding Midwestern League road victory after shooting 56% from the field and 48% from 3-point range.

Jill Garlitz, Thianna Deng-Gomes and Kady Lindstrom each scored 19 points to lead the Eagles (10-7, 3-3 MWL), with Lindstrom also dishing out six assists and Kady Ledbetter grabbing six rebounds.

THURSTON 59, ASHLAND 38: At Springfield, Ashland suffered its fifth straight loss to move to 5-13 overall and 1-5 in MWL play.

Thurston moved to 3-3 in conference and 8-9 overall.

PHOENIX 53, KLAMATH UNION 37: At Phoenix, senior guard Alissa Alvarez poured in 32 points to go with eight rebounds and eight steals as Phoenix snapped a modest two-game skid in Skyline Conference play and took sole possession of second place.

Carsyn Sousa collected eight points and five steals, Lily Quintero had seven points and four steals and Zepherya Noxon registered five rebounds and four steals for the Pirates (11-7, 4-3 Skyline).

Lisette Watah had 13 points to lead Klamath Union (8-11, 3-4)

KLAMATH UNION (37): Jimenez 2, Harmon 4, Miller 8, Wilson 2, Armijo 2, Segura 6, Watah 13, Zumwalt 0.

PHOENIX (53): Quintero 7, Sousa 8, Woodward 2, Alvarez 32, Noxon 4.

Klamath Union 10 5 15 7 — 37

Phoenix 10 11 17 15 — 53

CASCADE CHRISTIAN 59, BROOKINGS-HARBOR 35: Isabel McCauley scored nine first-quarter points and Emma Coats continued her strong play for Cascade Christian with seven of her 13 points in the opening frame as the No. 7-ranked Challengers cruised to a Southern Oregon Conference win.

McCauley finished with 17 points to go with five rebounds and three assists for Cascade Christian (13-4, 5-0 SOC), and Brynn Coppedge added 10 points and four steals.

Grace McCauley led the Challengers with six rebounds and Morgan Samhammer had six points and five boards, while Julia Brehm provided three rebounds, three steals and two assists and Jordynn Jones had eight points and three assists.

Coats was coming off a 16-point, five-steal effort in Wednesday’s 60-31 win at Lakeview. Isabel McCauley had 19 points, seven rebounds and four steals in that game.

BROOKINGS-HARBOR (35): Bruce 4, Pieper 7, Babb 0, Adams 14, Palmerin 0, Larson 0, Reneau 5, Hodges 5. Totals: 11 11-18 35.

CASCADE CHRISTIAN (59): Brehm 3, Coppedge 10, Wilcox 2, Ferreira 0, I. McCauley 17, Samhammer 6, Vanlandingham 0, Coats 13, Jones 8, Davis 0, Arce 0, G. McCauley 0, Madden 0. Totals: 23 8-9 59.

Brookings-Harbor 4 11 6 14 — 35

Cascade Christian 18 11 20 10 — 59

3-point goals — Brookings-Harbor 2 (Pieper 1, Bruce 1), Cascade Christian 5 (Coppedge 2, I. McCauley 2, Coats 1).

ST. MARY’S 28, NORTH VALLEY 22: Bailey Strickler and Avery Gunn each contributed seven points to help St. Mary’s secure its first Southern Oregon Conference win of the season.

Strickler scored half of the Crusaders’ points in the opening quarter to help create a 10-0 cushion, and Gunn tacked on four of her points in the final frame to keep North Valley at bay.

Emma Wheelock added six points for St. Mary’s (6-9, 1-4 SOC).

NORTH VALLEY (22): Estes 4, Smith 2, J. Godfrey 0, Aros 0, Schwenn 0, S. Godfrey 6, Brito 6, Davis 4. Totals: 10 0-0 22.

ST. MARY’S (28): Medley 4, Gunn 7, Wheelock 6, McGill 0, Rangel Villa 0, Weymouth 0, Yeamans 4, Strickler 7. Totals: 11 3-10 28.

North Valley 0 12 4 6 — 22

St. Mary’s 10 6 1 11 — 28

3-point goals — North Valley 2 (Brito 2), St. Mary’s 3 (Wheelock 2, Strickler 1).