It took modest comebacks in both the third and fourth quarters, but the Cougars chased away the Hall-Dale Bulldogs, 57-49, in the teams’ mutual MVC regular-season finale Wednesday night.

Two juniors led the way. Riley Robinson fought through a back injury to score nine of his 20 points in the fourth quarter, including 6-for-6 from the free-throw line in the final 3:53. Gavin Arsenault scored six of his 11, fueled by a pair of steals, in the third, when Dirigo (16-2) trailed by as many as five.

“It starts to become a mentality for us that if it’s close in the fourth quarter, we feel like it’s our game,” Dirigo coach Travis Magnusson said. “That’s definitely a good thing going into the tournament. It’s good because every game is going to be like this. This is as close in Class C as I can remember.”

Dirigo enters the tournament on an 11-game winning streak, likely as the No. 3 seed. In addition to going undefeated at home, seniors Nick St. Germain, Tyler Frost, Kaine Hutchins, Cody Dolloff and Joe Casey improved to 76-7 overall in their career.

Brian Allen led Hall-Dale (12-6) with 18 points and eight rebounds. Wesley LaPointe added 12 points and 10 boards.

After grabbing a 41-40 lead on Nat Crocker’s drive with 7:10 to go, the Bulldogs went more than three minutes without a point. Clay Swett hit two free throws to give Dirigo the lead, and Robinson rained down a 3-pointer to end the Cougars’ skid of seven consecutive misses from the field.

“This is a tournament atmosphere. Good crowd. Great officials. You couldn’t call a better game,” Hall-Dale coach Chris Ranslow said. “We were two, I thought, pretty evenly matched teams. There wasn’t a lot between those teams. They executed and we didn’t.”

Hall-Dale clawed back to within four, 50-46, when Bryson Camp hit one of two free throws with 1:49 left. But Robinson answered with two from the line, and after the Bulldogs couldn’t convert at the other end, Arsenault knocked down one more.

Ryan Sinclair buried a 3-pointer to make it 53-49 just under the minute mark. Dirigo broke Hall-Dale’s press after the ensuing timeout and found Hutchins for a layup to put it away.

“I thought our shot selection was poor in the first half,” Ranslow said. “We could have created some space and separation. I don’t know what we were from the 3-point line, but it couldn’t have been good.”

Dirigo (17-for-54) and Hall-Dale (17-for-53) struggled almost identically from the field.

Crocker’s ability to penetrate and draw fouls and dish to big men Allen and LaPointe spelled the modest difference in the first half. The Bulldogs led 16-12 after one quarter and 26-23 at the half.

Robinson tied it at 28 with a 3-pointer early in the third, only to see consecutive hoops by Allen and LaPointe restore Hall-Dale’s advantage.

Arsenault revitalized the Cougars with a furious defensive sequence. First, his blocked shot fueled a fast break, and Robinson found him with a quick pass underneath for two. Arsenault’s steal led to his own go-ahead layup, and yet another theft produced two Gavin Hebert free throws.

“We decided to pressure Crocker a little bit more, because he’s so fast that he’s tough to keep out of the paint. We tried to play off him a little bit, but then we decided to pressure him, and it gave us more energy and intensity,” Magnusson said. “That’s something this team does well too. They can change the game plan within the game. A lot of teams can’t do that, and we’ve done that really well this year.”

Great ball movement from St. Germain fed another Arsenault bucket inside. Brandyn Bechard answered with a layup off Crocker’s steal.

After an extended cold snap at both ends, Frost splashed down a trey for a 40-36 edge with eight minutes to play.

Dirigo received three rebounds, an assist and a steal from St. Germain, a senior whose career was derailed by knee injuries.

“You’ve got to always be ready. The kid’s minutes have probably been zero in some of the biggest games we’ve had this year, and he was huge. He was the difference-maker in the game,” Magnusson said. “That’s what makes our team so special and so great. We’ve been in these games all year, and it seems like someone different steps up every time.”

Hutchins had eight points and Frost furnished five points and five assists in their Defoe farewell.

Depending on how this week’s final games and the preliminary round unfold, there is a chance Dirigo and Hall-Dale could collide in the quarterfinals.

“I really liked our chances. We broke down a little bit in the beginning part of the fourth quarter and gave up a couple of layups,” Ranslow said. “For the most part I was happy. It’s a tough place to come and play and win.”

koakes@sunjournal.com