Waterford’s Reese Lang (14) drives baseline against Belpre’s AJ Copen during Friday’s game in Waterford. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

WATERFORD — Behind a strong backing from its community filling the stands inside its home gym and staying the course down the stretch, the Waterford boys basketball team laid to rest a six-game losing streak which lasted nearly four weeks.

Behind 20 points from Reese Lang and another 19 points from point guard Finn Pennock, the Wildcats overcame a five-point deficit in the fourth quarter and defeated Belpre, 52-46, on Friday night.

“Character, that’s the best way to sum up what happened tonight,” Waterford coach DJ Cunningham said after his club improved to 3-8 and 3-2 in the Tri-Valley Conference. “It could have been real easy to fall back into what’s been going on with us not closing games out. But they dug deep and found something within themselves tonight and fought for that win. And that’s huge.”

A pair of assists and a bucket of his own by Belpre point guard Malik Currie factored into a 6-0 run which put the Golden Eagles in front 44-39 with just less than six minutes remaining in regulation.

Belpre’s next points did not occur until the 16-second mark of the fourth quarter. At that point, Waterford led 50-46 then sealed the win with a free throw each from Gavin Hiener and Lang.

Waterford’s Finn Pennock (23) gets a few low-fives from his teammates after making a free throw during Friday’s game against Belpre. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

Even though Belpre’s defense limited Hiener to just three points, the 6-foot-4 junior provided an emphatic block during Belpre’s drought which lasted five-plus minutes.

Currie finished with a team-high 16 points, while AJ Copen and Haiden Tabler pitched in 11 and 10 points, respectively, for the Golden Eagles (6-5, 3-2 TVC).

“I thought we practiced better the past couple of weeks and I thought we were prepared – we didn’t play like we were prepared,” Belpre coach Ryan Leasure said. “There late, we had a chance to win the basketball game and it slipped through our hands.”

Both teams played a half-court game for the entire first half. At the start of the third quarter and throughout the majority of the second half, Belpre pulled out its full-court pressure. Waterford didn’t adjust right away to the change in pace and finished the second half with 13 turnovers compared to six prior to halftime.

“The press caught us off guard a little bit,” Pennock said. “They had that run there, but we called timeout to gather ourselves and we took it from there.”

Waterford’s Weston Fairchild (10) puts up a shot in the paint during Friday’s game against Belpre. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

Pennock’s scoring came in handy especially in the second quarter with Belpre in front 18-10. The junior hit one of his four 3-pointers in the half as part of his seven points in the period which gave Waterford a 23-22 lead heading into intermission.

“Waterford, top to bottom, is one of the best teams in the TVC,” Leasure said. “And if they get hot, they are going to be dangerous. They showed it tonight.”

Lang, who accounted for the other three Waterford 3-point makes on the night, hit from beyond the arc to ignite the Wildcats’ 11-0 run in the latter stages of the fourth quarter.

“We kind of changed our mindset to have fun – that’s kind of helped us the last week or so at practice,” Pennock said. “What we did down the stretch, it’s been a while since we have been able to do that. Probably four of our last six games we have had control of the game then towards the end we kind of lose control and the other team starts making shots.

“We start playing badly and they take the win. Tonight, we were in a groove, so that helped. And we stayed composed.”

Belpre’s Malik Currie (14) surveys the defense while being defended by Waterford’s Finn Pennock (23) during Friday’s game in Waterford. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

Coach Cunningham gave a shout out to the Waterford fans who filled the stands with plenty of green.

“Hats off to those individuals,” Cunningham said. “I was just telling our guys, be very thankful and appreciative of where we live and with our community because there’s a lot of places that you’ve got two wins and you don’t have a crowd like that.

“That atmosphere was phenomenal tonight. They ended up being a very big part of why we won. To have that kind of support and that atmosphere behind those guys – especially in those last few minutes where things were getting tight – played a huge role.”

Contact Kerry Patrick at kpatrick@newsandsentinel.com

Belpre’s AJ Copen, left, is heavily guarded by Waterford’s Avery Pottmeyer during Friday’s game in Waterford. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)