Frontier’s Kason Hoff, left, goes up for a basket as Fort Frye’s Kainan Bradford contests during Tuesday’s game at Dan Liedtke Court. (Photo by Mike Morrison)

BEVERLY — Getting a 10-day break right in the middle of the season can be a detriment to even some really good high school basketball teams.

A 10-day break didn’t seem to bother the red-hot Frontier Cougars in the slightest as they jumped out to a big lead and then held off a furious fourth quarter comeback bid by the Fort Frye Cadets to pick up a 62-56 win Tuesday night at Dan Liedtke Court.

Jacob Bowersock and Avery Powell combined for 40 points as the Cougars picked up their fourth consecutive victory and improved to 8-4 on the season.

“Our kids are improving so much and I don’t think earlier in the season that we would have won this game,” said Frontier head coach Roger Kirkpatrick. “We are growing, we are maturing and we are having fun and it’s a lot more fun when you win.”

Frontier last played back on Jan. 3 when they picked up an impressive win at home over Waterford.

Frontier’s Hunter Taylor (2) attacks the basket as Fort Frye’s Kainan Bradford defends during Tuesday’s game at Dan Liedtke Court. (Photo by Mike Morrison)

The Cougars got off to a quick start against a Fort Frye squad that has been decimated by injuries and playing with an all new starting lineup since back in December when they picked up a 10-point win over the Cougars in New Matamoras.

Frontier took a 14-11 lead at the end of the first quarter with Fort Frye’s senior Kainan Bradford accounting for every single one of his team’s 11 points.

Bradford’s second triple of the first quarter trimmed the lead to three but the Cougars scored the first 12 points of the second quarter to quickly build a 15-point lead.

A three-pointer from sophomore Kason Hoff got the run started and after a Hunter Taylor basket, Hoff hit a pair of mid-range jumpers to increase the lead to 12.

Powell put an exclamation point on the Cougar run as he knocked down a three-pointer of his own.

The Cadets finally got on the board when sophomore Caden Henniger knocked down a triple.

That three-pointer would spark a 7-3 Cadet run that would close the Cougar lead to 29-18 at the break.

For the first six minutes of the third quarter it looked like the Cougars were going to pull away to an easy win as they increased their lead to 39-25 on a Powell jumper with two and half minutes to play in the third.

It would have been quite easy at that point in the game for the young Cadets to pack it up and take the lopsided loss but instead they went on a run that would get them right back in the ball game.

A pair of free throws by junior Ty Worthington was sandwiched by back-to-back triples by Cade Hoskinson and Wyatt Duskey to quickly cut the lead to six.

Frontier got a huge bucket to close out the third period when Powell connected from long range to at least briefly slow the Cadet momentum.

“That was a big shot by Avery (Powell) because they had all the momentum in their favor at that point,” said Kirkpatrick. “The kids have heart and they are believing they are going to win these close games.”

A two-pointer by Jacob Bowersock and a free throw by Taylor allowed the Cougars to build their lead back to 12 points but once again the Cadets were primed to make another run.

Bradford hadn’t scored a point since the opening quarter but the Cadets senior scored three consecutive field goals, the latter coming on an assist from Grady Hesson after Hesson had come up with a steal under the basket.

Those three field goals cut the lead to six and after Powell uncharacteristically missed a pair of free throws the Cadets got even closer when Caden Henniger knocked down another triple to pull the Fort to within three.

Powell was fouled again on the other end and this time made one of two from the line and on the next Cadet possession Worthington brought them to within a single point when he knocked down a three-pointer to bring the Cadet crowd to a frenzy.

The Cadets came up with a steal on the next Cougar possession and remarkably had the chance to take the lead but Hesson’s lay-up rattled in and out and the Cougars came down with the rebound.

Bowersock drew a foul on the other end and made a pair of free throws to increase the lead to three.

Hoff’s two-pointer and a pair of free throws by Powell pushed the lead to seven before Powell drove strong to the bucket for two more to make it a 54-45 game.

Worthington’s inside bucket stopped the bleeding but Bowersock made all but one of eight free throw attempts down the stretch that allowed the Cougars to get the lead back to double digits.

There was no quit at all for the Cadets as they managed to whittle the lead back down to four with only seconds to play thanks in part to a rare four-point play by Caden Henniger but they simply ran out of time.

Bowersock led all scorers with 21 points as he went a perfect six-for six from the floor while also making an all important 9-of-11 from the charity stripe.

Powell finished the game with 19 points while Hoff added 14.

Cougar senior Caleb Kirkpatrick did not score a single point in the game but made his presence felt in a big way by pulling down a team-high 10 rebounds while also leading his team with five assists.

“It’s hard to be the smallest kid on the court and lead everyone in rebounding,” said Kirkpatrick of his grandson. “He’s important to our team because he always guards the toughest kid and he does those little things that help you win.”

Cadet head coach Eric Henniger was quite pleased with his young team’s effort as they learn to deal with the losses due to injury of leading scorers Aiden Brooks and Chatum Courson.

“Our young guys have earned a lot of minutes and they stepped up in that second half and played very well,” said Coach Henniger. “I was really pleased with the effort, especially in the second half.”

Bradford led the way for the Cadets with 19 points while Henniger added 18, including five from behind the arc.

“We felt like we had a size advantage inside and in the first half we did a good job of getting the ball to Kainan (Bradford) and taking advantage of that,” said coach Henniger. “Caden (Henniger) had a rough first half but he blocked that out of his mind and really made some clutch shots for us in the fourth quarter.”

The losses continue to mount for the Cadets as they now have dropped five in a row after winning their first six to begin the season.

“We’ve just got to find a way to get a win and get this thing going back in the right direction,” said Henniger, whose team will travel to Warren on Thursday. “We’ve got to get some more wins to try and get a better seed because our district is wide open this year.”

Kirkpatrick was impressed with how his team took the game plan implemented by assistant coaches Scott Murphy, Todd Bradford and Laken Shook and executed it to perfection.

“I thought our coaching staff did a fabulous job getting our kids ready for this game,” said Kirkpatrick, whose squad will travel to Bridgeport on Thursday. “It was a total team effort and I’m really proud of this group to get a win at such a tough place to get one.”