DIXFIELD — Game of the year to date in the Mountain Valley Conference? Easily.

Best game of Mitch Stanley and T.J. Frost’s careers, so far, in front of a raucous, divided, sold-out throng at DeFoe Gymnasium? Absolutely.

On a Tuesday night when Spruce Mountain tied up Dirigo’s usual headliners for lengthy stretches, 6-foot-5 senior sixth man Stanley and junior point guard Frost landed squarely in the spotlight and helped steer the Cougars to a 57-53 victory in a battle of the league’s last two unbeaten teams.

Stanley scored back-to-back baskets to give Dirigo (7-0) the elusive lead in the third quarter, triggering a 19-6 run to a 47-37 lead with eight minutes to play.

“Mitch played the game of his life,” Dirigo forward Cody St. Germain said.

Later, after Spruce (6-1) surged all the way back to lead 51-50 with 3:51 on the clock and Dirigo’s Josh Turbide sank one free throw to tie, Frost found Ben Holmes for a backdoor layup and a two-point edge.

Jake Bessey hit the second of two free throws — ending a skid of six straight misses from the line by the Phoenix — before Frost rained down his third 3-pointer of the night with 1:19 left.

Forced to foul four times just to get Dirigo into the bonus, Spruce used up more than half the remaining time.

Four desperation field-goal attempts in two possessions down the stretch rattled off the rim, sending Spruce to the first defeat in school history.

“This is a tough place to play,” Spruce coach Chris Bessey said. “To play well and lead primarily throughout the whole first half and then come back in the fourth quarter the way we did says a lot about what we’re made of. Hopefully this earns us some of the respect we haven’t been getting.”

Spruce surely has Dirigo’s attention. The three-time defending Western Class C champions trailed 16-10 after one quarter and 29-28 at half.

Stop it there and it was a sensational, spirited, back-and-forth contest. And the encore was even better.

“They’re a great team,” Stanley said. “You knew from playing Jay and Livermore Falls in the past that there is no quit in them.”

Stanley scored seven of his 12 points in the third quarter. He pulled down six rebounds on the evening.

With Ben Holmes in foul trouble and Spruce Mountain’s interior trio of Nate Shink, James Barker and Ben Keene focusing heavily on St. Germain, Stanley’s contributions were game-saving.

“Coach (Travis Magnusson) just tells me to focus on the offensive boards and try to box out,” Stanley said. “I just stick my nose in there.”

Frost had nine points and seven assists while controlling the offensive pace with flair for Dirigo.

And the usual suspect, St. Germain, still snagged his 20 points, 12 rebounds and three blocked shots, with an unusual undertone.

He rained down a 3-pointer with 15 seconds remaining in the third quarter and another to continue Dirigo’s run early in the fourth.

“I’ve hit a couple this year and I wasn’t feeling it much inside tonight, so I thought I’d try it from outside,” St. Germain said.

Jake Bessey directed Spruce’s rally with eight of his 18 points and two of his six assists in the fourth quarter.

Barker’s steal and Bessey’s pass to Zach Bonnevie for a 3-pointer made it 50-49 Cougars.

The Phoenix forged ahead and capped a run of nine straight points on Bessey’s pull-up jumper in the paint.

“There were times we could have hung our heads and we didn’t,” Magnusson said. “Both teams showed a lot of toughness the way they kept battling back.”

Magnusson, the former Livermore Falls coach, was given the Spruce job before taking the Dirigo post over the summer.

That history, plus the relative proximity of the two schools, rounded out by the perfect records, produced an emotional roller coaster of a game that will be tough for the next month of chilly nights to top.

Shink added 15 points and nine rebounds for Spruce Mountain. Barker had seven points, nine rebounds and three steals and drew two offensive fouls.

“We played about as well as we can play most of the game against a team that just came off beating a couple of Class A teams (Bangor and Cony in a Christmas tournament),” Chris Bessey said of Dirigo.

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