SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. — For the second straight day at the Eagle Classic, the Sandpoint boys basketball team needed a comeback to capture a victory. And this time they did it.

After coming up just short of completing one Thursday against Medicine Lake, the Bulldogs were able to overcome a 12 point deficit in the fourth quarter to grab a 57-54 win over East Valley on Friday.

Sandpoint leaned on its relentless defense to outscore the Knights 30-16 in the second half and earn the victory.

The Bulldogs (4-3) trailed almost the entire game and played a good portion of it without senior Ryan Roos who left three minutes into the second quarter with an injury. But Sandpoint fought and relied on a combination of younger players stepping up and senior leadership to avoid going winless at the Eagle Classic.

“Our guys overcame adversity once again and just had an amazing win,” head coach Wade Engelson said. “It’s a reflection on our guys character and their heart. If you’re down 12 in the fourth quarter and you continue to battle and be able to comeback in those type of games, that speaks to who our guys are in this program and on this team.”

Tight games that come down to the final few possessions are a given for the Bulldogs this season as all seven of their contests have been decided by 10 points or fewer.

Engelson said his players have learned a lot about the effort and commitment it takes to stay locked in for the full 32 minutes of a game and are gaining valuable experience in crucial moments of games that will help them to continue to grow as the season progresses.

“These are character building wins,” he said. “You start to believe that you can do this.”

It takes an entire team to complete a comeback like this and Sandpoint certainly had that.

After only scoring 2 points in the first half, senior point guard Kobe Banks tallied 13 points in the second half including 10 in the fourth quarter to lead the Bulldogs. Freshman Colin Roos and senior Brandon Casey each had 8 points while sophomore Jacob Eldridge notched 6 and senior Christian Niemela added 5.

Engelson said everyone who stepped on the court in a Sandpoint jersey contributed to this victory.

The roller coaster of emotions in every game this season has certainly made watching the team exciting for fans but Engelson has a warning for people planning to attend their games in the future.

“Our games, if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure, you better take your medication before you come because it is back and forth, it’s intense,” Engelson joked. “It might not always be pretty, but I’ll tell you what our guys just get after it and I’m going to have to double my blood pressure medication.”

Sandpoint will now get about a week and a half off to rest and recover before facing St. Maries 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 7 at Les Rogers Court.

Sandpoint 11 16 8 22 — 57

East Valley 13 25 7 9 — 54

SANDPOINT — R. Roos 11, Banks 15, Niemela 5, Eldridge 6, VanDenBerg 3, C. Roos 8, Treadaway 1, Lane 0, Casey 8, Moore 0.

EAST VALLEY — McGee 6, Hargrave 14, Rasmussen 4, Hofstee 5, Brown 12, Gunderson 5, Stevens 2, Hansen 3, Honegger 2, Moultrie-Hall 0.