TURNER — Leave the perimeter open or give senior guard Austin Darling the ball and you are just asking for big problems from the Spruce Mountain Phoenix.

The Phoenix (14-3) were tough outside and inside against a stubborn Leavitt team (4-13), but despite watching the injured Brett Frey being taken to the hospital, Spruce Mountain banded together for a 59-44 victory in a boys’ basketball game Wednesday night.

Frey hit the floor hard on a play in the third quarter, but nobody is sure about the nature of Frey’s injury. He was put on stretcher after 20 minutes and transported to the hospital. His condition is unknown.

In the first half, the Phoenix owned the joint, building a 35-17 lead. Darling was force on the outside and inside, hitting five 3-pointers and piling up the game-high 32 points. Senior guard Noah Preble added 13 points.

“We definitely faced adversity of him (Frey) being injured,” Darling said. “But we stuck together, as we always have the whole year. We just stayed positive and finished the game as much as we could.

“Like I said, I am very confident in my ability shoot the ball. That’s what I have been working on in preseason, and I am very confident.”

But the Hornets stepped up their game in the third and fourth quarters and were equally tough on defense, holding Spruce to just eight points in the final stanza.

“Yeah, but a lot happened,” Spruce Mountain coach Scott Bessey said. “I am probably going to head to the hospital right now to check him (Frey) out.

“It is a lot to ask a team to be up by 19 points, come out really strong in the second half, and then that happens to one of your brothers, and then you have to pick up right where you left off.

“Of course, there was going to be a drop-off, and that’s what happened. We hung on and we did fine.”

For the Hornets, senior forwards D’Andre James scored 16 points and Jack Sylvester scored 15.

“Yeah, we played better in the second half,” Leavitt coach Mike Hathaway said. “I thought defensively we did a little bit better of a job. Obviously, Darling had a big game. “He’s tough off the dribble, but I thought we did a better job in the second half trapping him a little bit and getting the ball out of his hands.”

Spruce Mountain’s Austin Darling (5) and Leavitt’s D’Andre James (5) and Nick Angello (13) go up of a rebound in basketball game in Turner on Wednesday.Spruce Mountain’s Austin Darling (5) goes up for a shot against Leavitt’s Cole Morin (2) in basketball game in Turner on Wednesday.Leavitt’s D’Andre James (5) drives to the net as Spruce Mountain’s Noah Preble (30) and Jordy Dangle (12) try to stop James in basketball game in Turner on Wednesday.Spruce Mountain’s Nick Lombardi (13) and Leavitt’s Jack Sylvester (22) go after a loose ball in a basketball game in Turner on Wednesday.