With his team’s season hanging in the balance, New Trier coach Scott Fricke knew exactly who he wanted to take control: his senior point guard Andrew Kirkpatrick.

“I was running everything through him,” the coach said. “He’s been making and taking big shots for a long time and he did it again today.”

Kirkpatrick rewarded his coach’s faith in him by scoring the last seven points of the fourth quarter, capping a 20-point fourth-quarter comeback, and leading his team to a 77-72 double-overtime win over Niles North in the Class 4A Maine East Sectional semifinals Wednesday, March 7, 2018, in Park Ridge.

“It’s great that my coach trusts me to do that,” Kirkpatrick said. “I think I hit some tough shots but once it starts going in, those shots and easier to take and become more comfortable taking them.

“I think this is the coolest game I’ve been a part of. The only game I think can compare is our game against them earlier in the year at New Trier. It was a similar environment, back and forth. That was just crazy.”

Down 53-34 going into the fourth quarter, the Trevians did something that their opponent was known for – applying pressure.

“Their strategy coming in was to pressure us and turn us over and when we got down, we had no choice but to pressure,” Fricke said. “Our 1-3-1 (zone) came up big.

“I thought we started the second half great and we were down 18. We got exactly what they wanted and they made a couple plays like they always do and that might be the biggest comeback in New Trier history on the biggest stage.”

The change worked. The Trevians created five turnovers on the Vikings’ first seven possessions of the fourth quarter, drawing to within 54-48 after Sam Silverstein’s three-point play off of a steal.

Even with the comeback, the Trevians still trailed 59-50 when Spencer Boehm stepped to the free throw line with 1:40 remaining. Boehm would split the two free throws and then grab a rebound off of a Niles North missed free throw. Griffin Ryan (16 points) followed with a 3-pointer, then Kirkpatrick (21 points) knocked one down off of a Ryan steal and all of the sudden it was 59-57 with under a minute left. Another Niles North turnover was followed by a Kirkpatrick bucket that tied the game at 59 with 43 seconds remaining.

Two Vikings free throws gave the third-seeded team from Skokie a two-point lead with 21.2 seconds remaining to give it a 61-59 lead but Kirkpatrick knocked down a shot with seven seconds to send the game into overtime.

“We all got together and said ‘we refuse to lose and we just have to pressure these guys,'” Kirkpatrick said. “We started attacking their pressure and attacking them on defense and that led us to good shots.”

After an adrenaline-pumped fourth quarter, the first overtime saw both teams committed a combined four turnovers in the first seven possessions, with neither team scoring until New Trier’s Brian Conaghan gave the Trevians their first lead of the game at 63-61 with 2:13 remaining in the period. Four free throws by Damaria Franklin and a Ryan basket would even the score at 65 and send the game into its second extra period.

“We slowed the game down during the two overtimes,” Kirkpatrick said. “We’re more of a half-court team and once the game slows down, that really plays to our strengths because we have long possessions, get good shots.”

And what an extra period it was. Ciaran Brayboy, who sprained his right ankle with 2:25 left in the third period, sat out the fourth quarter and first overtime, but came back in the second and gave the Trevians a 70-67 lead on a three-point play with 1:53 remaining. The Trevians wouldn’t relinquish the lead and the 6-foot-9-inch junior finished the game with 19 points.

“He tried to get loose and when we got to overtime, I asked ‘can you go?’ he said ‘yeah I can go,'” the coach added. “He didn’t win the tip, which he usually does, but he was moving his feet fine. He was huge for us.”

The Vikings would cut the lead down to 73-72 on a 3-pointer by Dravon Clayborn with 20.4 seconds remaining, but Kirkpatrick and Boehm would both go 2-for-2 on free throws down the stretch, clinching the game and the win, Fricke’s 200th of his career.

With the win, the Trevians move on to face Evanston, a team they split with earlier this season. The Wildkits are the top-seeded team in the sectional.

“That’s who we wanted to play for the sectional title,” Kirkpatrick said. “Why not play your bitterest rival, who you’ve only beaten once in the last four years?”