JAY — Spruce Mountain wasn’t missing much from 3-point range, so Boothbay had little choice but to test the Phoenix free throw shooting late in Monday night’s Mountain Valley Conference boys’ basketball clash.

After Ben Dickinson’s 3-pointer pulled them within four late in the fourth quarter, the Seahawks tried to extend the game by sending Spruce Mountain to the charity stripe. But the Phoenix made 12 of 15 free throw attempts in the fourth quarter to hang on to a 69-60 win.

Nate Shink poured in a game-high 22 points to go with 10 rebounds for Spruce Mountain. Shink drilled four 3-pointers to lead a Phoenix firing squad that converted nine of 17 3-pointers. Three other scorers reached double figures for the Phoenix: Jake Bessey (12 points), James Barker (11 points, 11 rebounds) and Ben Keene (10 points).

With the Phoenix (12-1) leading by one after the first quarter, Shink started to heat up. He scored 10 points in the second quarter, including a pair of 3-pointers, to help  open up a 10-point lead at halftime.

Spruce Mountain inflated the margin as high as 18 in the third before Boothbay started to chip away, cutting it to 11 heading into the fourth quarter.

Anthony DiMauro led Boothbay (10-3) with 21 points while Dickinson chipped in with 16.