Staff photo by Travis Rosenau Sleepy Eye St. Marys’ Kessler Severson (23) recovers a tipped pass into the backcourt in front of Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop’s Layton Uecker-Hamre during a Tomahawk Division boys basketball game Saturday at St. Mary’s High School. Also pictured is St. Marys’ George Schwint (24).

SLEEPY EYE — Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop battled back from double-digit deficits on three separate occasions Saturday afternoon, but the Thunderbirds ran out of gas in the end against a strong Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s man defense.

And with four players in double figures on offense, the Knights were able to hold on for a 70-60 victory in a Tomahawk Division boys basketball game.

Kessler Severson had 16 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Knights (10-14, 6-10), while Adam Steffensmeier had 16 points and six rebounds. George Schwint and Michael Balko each had 14 points, with Balko adding six rebounds and Schwint dishing out five assists.

GFW (8-15, 5-10) was led by Cole Jacobson’s 21 points, while Layton Uecker-Hamre had 14 points and Easton Taylor had 11 points.

Coming off of a tough loss to Sleepy Eye on Friday night, the Knights had to regroup quickly against a GFW team hungry for a win.

“We had made just enough plays when they cut the lead to a tight margin,” Knights head coach Judd Walter said. “We made just enough plays to kind of keep that lead. There’s a few things we need to get better at, but I like the way we responded in crunch time.”

The Thunderbirds, whose game against the Knights was their fourth of the week, took a little bit to find some energy, but they got it late in the first half.

After the Knights extended their lead to 16, the Thunderbirds got a 9-0 run to end the half down 35-29. Taylor started that run with a straightaway 3 before Cole Jacobson, Uecker-Hamre and Owen Swenson scored in that order to finish the run.

“We just got done talking to the guys in the locker room that it would’ve been real easy for us to just kind of pack it in when you get down 16, but they scrapped back,” GFW head coach Ryan Jacobson said. “There have been several times this season where we’ve gotten ourselves in that position and we just kind of have gone away quietly and they didn’t do that today. They fought back and put themselves into position to be competitive and got back within 6, which I was really happy with going into the half.”

Walter attributed the Thunderbirds’ first-half comeback to mixing it up defensively.

“They mixed up their defense a little bit and threw some different looks at us, which confused us a little bit,” Walter said. “We hit some shots early and later on that first half, those shots didn’t fall. We had a few rattle in and out so they were able to close that lead before the half, but I like the way we responded.”

Schwint opened the second half by calmly taking and sinking a 3 to put the Knights up 38-29. Cole Jacobson got a pair of free throws on the other end, but Severson scored inside, Balko hit a 3 and Severson converted an and-one for a 46-31 Knights lead.

GFW hung around, however, and after Uecker-Hamre scored back-to-back buckets, Clayton Karg got a putback bucket to have the Thunderbird down just 50-46.

Brecken Hulke scored on consecutive trips up the floor for the Knights to increase their lead to 8 again, but Cole Jacobson answered with two straight buckets of his own to make it 54-50.

The Knights increased their lead to double figures for a third time, 66-54, but the Thunderbirds again got within 6, 66-60, in the final minute. Trailing 67-60, Tyler Mathiowetz poked the ball away for a steal that led to a transition layup by Steffensmeier for a 69-60 lead to help ice the game.

“They just made a couple timely shots in the second half,” coach Jacobson said. “We just couldn’t make a big shot and that’s a credit to their defense. I think man-to-man, defensive-wise, they might be the best team in the [Tomahawk]. George Schwint, he can really guard, so they make it tough on you.”

The Knights are now at St. James Area for a Thursday game before finishing their regular season by hosting a tough Madelia squad on Feb. 25.

“We feel that we can play with a lot of teams,” Walter said. “We’ve been in a lot of tight games and the thing is learning how to finish those games. We talked about it [today] with four minutes left that we have to value every possession, whether it’s finishing a possession with a rebound or taking care of the ball. That’s an area we have to clean up come playoff time.”

Meanwhile the Thunderbirds will enjoy some much-needed rest before gearing up again to close out next week with three consecutive games. They host Martin County West on Thursday before traveling to Madelia on Friday and finishing their Tomahawk schedule at 5:30 p.m. Feb. 22 at Lester Prairie.

“We’ve got one at home and then two tough road games, but I said these are the type of teams you’ll see in the postseason,” coach Jacobson said. “So to see what you’ve gotta do and what you’ve gotta go through, it’s a good test for us.”