Norway senior Bryce Adams (2) fires a mid range jump shot over North Dickinson Brady Jungwirth (15) and Trenton Kramer (10) at Norway High School on Monday. (Terry Raiche photo)

NORWAY — It was an emotional home opener for the Norway boys varsity basketball team on Monday.

The night started with a moment of silence for longtime-Knights fan Duane Lundamo. It ended with the Knights clawing their way to victory in overtime against North Dickinson, 55-52, at Norway High School.

“I knew it was going to be a good game,” Knights’ head coach Jeff Gallino said. “Both teams come with a lot of intensity so I knew it was going to be scrappy. (There were) kids diving on the floor and hustling. It was a fun game to be a part of.”

Despite holding a lead after the first quarter, the Nordics’ offense struggled to stay in rhythm at times in the loss.

“We were kind of Jekyll and Hyde in terms of our offense,” North Dickinson head coach Chris Mattson said. “I think we shot the ball close to 60 percent from inside the 3-point line and 20 percent, if that, from outside of it. Ty (King) gave us a spark offensively, but defensively, we needed to make a couple stops and it came down to rebounding. Give Norway credit, they grabbed a couple of offensive rebounds in overtime and that’s probably the reason why they won.”

After picking up a win in its season opener, the Nordics fell behind early against Norway as Mason Trudeau scored five points and Bryce Adams added two.

However, a Brady Jungwirth 3-pointer from the left wing seemed to spark the North Dickinson offense. When the buzzer sounded at the end of the first quarter, the Nordics held a 16-11 lead.

“Our second quarter, offensively, was poor,” Mattson said. “We kind of had a lull there.”

While North Dickinson was trying to work out the kinks in the second quarter, Norway took advantage.

Adams buried a layup off an assist from Trudeau, Cole Baij connected on a layup and Anthony Pineda converted an and-1 as the Knights pulled ahead, 18-16.

King kept the Nordics close, scoring eight points in the frame and they went into the halftime break behind 26-24.

North Dickinson found its footing early in the third quarter. Spencer Kramer scored four quick points and Trenton Kramer added three more as the Nordics took a five-point lead.

“The hustle plays and putting pressure on them really changed the game,” coach Gallino said. “We kind of got slow and methodical early in the third quarter. But we put the pressure back on and it changed the momentum quite a bit.”

After a Trudeau 3-pointer from the left wing cut the North Dickinson lead to one, the Knights’ defense began to have an impact.

Adams started the rally by saving a ball headed out of bounds. He flipped it behind his back and right to Trudeau, who buried a layup. Trudeau then picked the Nordics’ pocket, starting a fast break that ended with Adams connecting on a 3-pointer from the right corner.

In 25 seconds, the Nordics found themselves trailing by four points. They would cut the lead down to two points ahead of the fourth quarter.

Baij took over for Norway in the fourth, scoring seven points in the frame.

However, with the game on the line, North Dickinson needed someone to step up and Spencer Kramer was there.

With 17 seconds left and trailing by three points, Kramer drove to the rim, sinking a layup through contact. He converted the ensuing free throw, tying the game at 52 and sending it to overtime.

“I liked the way we responded late in the game,” Mattson said. “That free throw was not easy, but with the game on the line, (Spencer Kramer) knocked it down.”

From there, it would come down to free throws. After missing six free throws in the fourth quarter and overtime, Baij came to the line with 1.9 seconds remaining and a chance to seal the game.

“If I would have made just one of the (free throws) before, we wouldn’t have gone to overtime,” Baij said. “So I needed to make those last ones. I needed to. That’s all I could think about. … I need to make these.”

He did just that and Norway locked up the 55-52 win in overtime.

“Definitely, we’re going to continue working on free throw shooting,” coach Gallino said. “We missed quite a few at the end and we need to get better at that.”

The Knights received contributions from Adams (13 points), Baij (20 points), Pineda (9 points) and Trudeau (13 points).

“We’re going to need balance,” coach Gallino said. “Last year, with Alex (Ortman), he was able to get to the basket and do a lot of things for us. We’re going to need that balance this year and for those guys to step up and score was huge.”

King led all scorers in the contest with 23 points.

North Dickinson also received contributions from Trenton Kramer (10 points), Tyler Fleming (3 points), Jungwirth (3 points) and Spencer Kramer (13 points).

Jungwirth spent the fourth quarter and overtime on the bench with ice on his ankle.

“Brady (Jungwirth’s) one of our best players,” Mattson said. “Both as a floor leader and he can knock down that outside shot. That didn’t help us any, but I liked the way some of our kids off the bench responded.

“We had Tyler (Fleming) and Jason Graham come in and they did well. … We’re crossing our fingers with Brady, hopefully, his ankle is going to be OK.”

The Nordics return home on Friday to face Carney-Nadeau while the Knights are off until Monday when they head to Escanaba.