FRUITPORT — The Fruitport boys basketball team has not had its resolve tested often this season.

The team’s last loss came more than two months ago, and many of the Trojans’ victories during its long winning streak have come by double figures.

So entering a much anticipated rematch with NorthPointe Christian on Friday, it was fair to question how Fruitport might respond if it found itself on the wrong end of a big lead late in a game.

The Trojans answered that question in emphatic and thrilling fashion on Friday night. Fruitport found itself trailing by 13 points with just four minutes to play, but rallied for an improbable 60-51 win in overtime on Senior Night in its own gym.

Fruitport’s defense turned up the heat, forcing six turnovers in the final four minutes, leading to easy layups on the other end. That led to a 15-2 run that tied the score and sent the game to overtime.

Once there, the Trojan defense remained strong, and Fruitport made 10-of-13 free throws to secure a 12-3 edge in the extra frame and steal the win.

The Trojans have now won 15 straight games. They are 17-2 overall on the season and extended their lead in the O-K Silver conference with the win.

Fruitport is 11-0 in the league, 1.5 games ahead of NorthPointe Christian (10-2) and two games ahead of Calvin Christian (9-2).

Fruitport has three conference games left, including two against Calvin Christian, and can clinch at least a share of the title with one more win.

“I’m so proud of this group,” said Fruitport Coach Steve Erny. “What slowly kind of turned the tide, I think, was us getting out in transition from turnovers.

“We started running with two guys at the ball, and to our guys’ credit, they really executed. (NorthPointe Christian) kind of got into a bit of a panic. They got sped up.”

Senior DayDay Williams said the team sticking together and trusting their abilities was key to the comeback.

“Just staying together –  we know we’re a good team,” he said. “We know we put in the work at practice, we know what we can do, we know we can pull that off. So we knew we just had to step it up a notch if we wanted to win.”

It was a tough offensive night for standout sophomore Dexter Lillmars, the Trojans’ leading scorer, as the Mustangs sent double teams his way. Lillmars, who finished with 11 points, knew he had to find other ways to make a difference.

“Obviously my shots weren’t falling tonight,” he said. “I just had to make a decision in the second half to try to impact the game in as many other ways as I could.

“It all started on the defensive end. We were getting stops, we were getting turnovers, we were getting rebounds, we were just getting out and running. That allowed us to get back in the game.”

Erny said Friday’s game could serve the team well in the state tournament in a couple weeks.

“To have that experience of coming back in a short amount of time, I think, is going to really do us well,” he said. “We’ve been kind of in a nice flow. So when tonight happened and things were getting kind of clunky and slow and we were missing shots, I think (coming back) was a really important experience.”

NorthPointe Christian led 17-14 after the opening quarter, ending the frame on a 6-0 run. The Mustangs had a 17-9 edge in the second quarter and led 34-23 at halftime.

Hudson Hornback led NPC with 13 first half points. Williams paced the Trojans with seven.

Both teams scored 10 points in the third, leaving the score 44-33 heading into the fourth.

NPC scored first in the fourth quarter to push the lead to 46-33 and, with around five minutes left, started trying to run the clock down on its possessions.

Fruitport’s comeback started with a free throw from Williams, followed by an offensive rebound and a Hudson Hazekamp three. Lillmars then got a steal and a layup to make it 46-39.

A Mustang basket pushed the lead back to nine with 3:02 to play. Then Fruitport’s Garrett Olson made a layup and Williams had a steal that led to a Brady Hanson three-pointer, narrowing the score to 48-44.

Lillmars added another steal and layup to cut the lead to two and force a timeout with 1:45 to play.

Hanson got a steal and a layup with a minute to go to even the score. Another Trojan steal gave Fruitport the last shot of regulation, but Lillmars came up short on a three.

In overtime, Fruitport continued to play strong defense and did most of its damage at the foul line. The Trojans nailed 10 of 12 free throw attempts in the extra frame, led by a 6-for-7 effort from Williams. Between the fourth quarter and overtime, Fruitport ended the game on a 27-5 run.

Williams had a double-double of 18 points and 15 rebounds, along with four steals. Lillmars finished with 11 points, four rebounds, four steals and three assists. Hanson scored nine points, Hazekamp had eight, Johnson-Jimenez and Rodney Robison had four apiece and Olson and Fielstra each had three.

Hazekamp and Olson each had eight rebounds while Johnson-Jimenez snagged six, all offensive.

Hornback led NorthPointe Christian with 21 points before fouling out in the overtime period.