Austin Hemmingson | Daily Press Escanaba’s Brandon Frazer shoots while being guarded by Alpena’s Jordan Schultz (left) and Jack Schmanski (right) during Friday’s game at Escanaba.

ESCANABA — On a night when both teams had plenty of opportunities, it was the Alpena Wildcats making one more big play than their counterpart in a 47-46 road victory over Escanaba Friday night in a non-conference boys basketball contest.

Alpena trailed 46-44 after Bryant Maki gave Escanaba the lead with a finish through contact with 1:45 left to play.

After the Wildcats (4-0) missed a 3-pointer on their next possession, Adam Urlaub came up with a steal near midcourt and drove for a layup while absorbing a foul to tie the score 46-46. He then sunk the free throw to make it 47-46, which ended up being the difference in the game.

Neither team was able to execute offensively down the stretch as Alpena made a critical stop and then was able to bleed the clock out. Esky’s Matt Seymour had one last chance at a halfcourt heave at the buzzer, but the shot was wide right.

“We have a lot of new guys this year in new roles. When you haven’t had that opportunity to be in that situation, you have to learn it,” Wildcats’ coach John Pintar said. “The positive is that we were able to learn with a win. There’s a lot of things we did wrong, there’s a lot of mistakes that we made, but we fought through that and I give our guys credit because when we fell down by seven points, it looked like things were really going to go south for us. We just really struggled with a lot of things offensively, but we found a way.”

The Eskymos (3-4) led 41-34 entering the fourth quarter after finishing the third on an 8-0 run, but the Wildcats opened the final frame with back-to-back buckets and eventually tied the score 42-42 on a layup by Urlaub with 3:49 to go.

“That was the game, because you could sense it. They were getting their confidence, they were making plays and we started to hang our head a little bit,” Pintar said. “Those two baskets changed the dynamic, and all of a sudden it comes back to a one-possession, back-and-forth game.”

Carter Hudson briefly put Esky up 44-42 with a pair of free throws, but Alpena answered with a putback layup by Jack Schmanski on its next possession, setting the stage for the final three minutes.

Esky scored just five points in the fourth quarter, hitting just one shot from the field.

“It was our game to win. We left the door open a couple times after taking the lead late, and Alpena took advantage of it,” Esky coach Tracy Hudson said. “The hard thing about this game to swallow is that you could look back at 25 plays, and you could say, ‘If we could do one thing better — one rebound, one less turnover, two free throws, just one play — (we could have won the game).'”

It was an even game all the way around, with Alpena committing 14 turnovers and the Eskymos committing 13. Esky outrebounded the Wildcats 29-27.

The Wildcats jumped out to an 8-0 lead after a floater by Kelley Stark with 5:57 left in the first quarter, and they led 13-6 at the end of the frame.

Alpena held a 23-17 lead with 1:26 left in the first half before the Eskymos finished the half on a 6-0 run to make it 23-23 at halftime.

“I told my kids I was extremely proud of their effort,” coach Hudson said. “The first was just a struggle, and I thought we had some kids carrying us. I thought Bryant Maki had his best game and brought a lot of energy, and I felt Brandon Frazer really finished well in the first half.”

Alpena was able to overcome a woeful 5 for 16 effort from the free throw line, mostly because of its defense.

“I thought our defense was really kind of the key, giving us an opportunity in the end,” Pintar said. “Sometimes you just have to find a way to win ugly, and tonight we were fortunate to come up with that.”

Schmanski led the Wildcats with 14 points.

Peyton Fedell led Esky with 16 points and three triples — all coming in the second quarter. Maki added 10 points and seven rebounds, while Carter Hudson chipped in seven points and nine boards.

Esky won the jayvee game 70-46 and the freshmen game 59-40.

Alpena visits Marquette today, while the Eskymos host Marquette Tuesday.

Alpena 13 10 11 13 — 47

Escanaba 6 17 18 5 — 46

Alpena — Schmanski 14, Schultz 8, Urlaub 8, Voltz 6, Stark 5, Bright 4, Duncan 2. FT: 5-16; F: 15; Fouled out: None. 3-point field goals: Stark 1, Bright 1.

Escanaba — Fedell 16, Maki 10, Hudson 7, Frazer 6, M. Seymour 3, Kuchenberg 2, Smale 2. FT: 8-15; F: 19; Fouled out: None. 3-point field goals: Fedell 3, Hudson 1.