READFIELD — What stood in the way of a Maranacook boys basketball comeback Friday seemed like it would be too much for the Black Bears.

Even with Mount View standout Wyatt Bennett on the bench, Maranacook couldn’t seem to close a double-digit gap. Then, as Maranacook struggled with free throws, the visiting Mustangs converted seemingly every time they went to the line.

In the end, Maranacook still found a way, coming back from a 22-point deficit early in the second half to claim a 63-60 victory in a battle but between Class C South contenders.

“It wasn’t just a comeback; it was a comeback that was against a team that’s just as good as us,” said Maranacook coach Travis Magnusson. “That’s a great team — that’s a team that can win a state championship — and to come back down 22 shows a lot of guts.”

HOW IT HAPPENED

Mount View (10-5) dominated early, with Bennett hitting three 3-pointers in the first quarter to propel the Mustangs to a 17-10 lead. The senior picked up this third foul a minute into the second quarter, but that didn’t slow the Mustangs, who got Maranacook into foul trouble and went 11 of 12 from the line to take a 39-19 lead into halftime.

In the third quarter, though, Maranacook (11-4) clawed its way back. Gage Mattson scored nine points, and the Black Bears got two 3-pointers each from Elijah Freeman and Grady Hreben.

Maranacook trailed 49-43 entering the fourth quarter and tied it at 54 with 4:30 to play.

“We got into the fourth quarter and had cut it to like six, and we were like, ‘Yeah, we’re in this,’” said Hreben, who made two more 3-pointers in the fourth. “My teammates just found me when I was in space, and it felt great.”

Mount View took the lead back at 58-56. Hreben’s fourth 3-pointer broke a 58-58 tie, and after a Mount View basket, two Jack Fontaine free throws accounted for the final margin, as Maranacook prevented the Mustangs from getting off a final shot.

“We just never gave up,” said Maranacook senior Ethan Chilton. “At halftime, if we gave up, we would’ve just gotten smoked, but we didn’t. We came out with energy, we brought it to them, and they just didn’t react the way they wanted to.”

WHAT IT MEANS

• Maranacook picked up another tight win over Mount View after defeating the Mustangs 54-53 on a last-second basket on Dec. 11 in Thorndike. The Black Bears leapfrogged Spruce Mountain for second place in Class C South and gained ground on Hall-Dale, which lost at Valley on Friday night.

“That first time we played them, they were missing at least one, maybe two players, so this was big,” Magnusson said. “Like I said, that’s a good team; they’ve won some big games, they play really, really hard, and they have a ton of energy. They play the right way, for sure.”

• Mount View missed a chance at a marquee win over Maranacook for the second time this season. The Mustangs still have opportunities to bolster their tournament résumé, though, with games remaining against Spruce Mountain and Erskine Academy.

NOTABLE QUOTABLES

“(Chilton) is big for our energy; he and Caldre (Glowa) are the key to that for us because they’re always playing hard. Ethan played the whole third quarter and didn’t come out, and Caldre got a lot of loose balls. If you’re going into battle with people, those are two guys you want to battle with. Other people feed off them.” — Travis Magnusson

“We were upset (being down 20 at halftime), but a couple seniors, including myself, brought the team together and just talked about how we could fix the stuff we did. … Even if we missed a couple layups, we came out with energy and got the job done.” — Ethan Chilton

STAT LEADERS

• Mount View: Wyatt Bennett (24 points), Ethan Cunningham (16 points), Freddy Garcia (eight points, six rebounds)

• Maranacook: Gage Mattson (17 points), Grady Hreben (12 points), Jack Fontaine (nine points, five rebounds)

UP NEXT

• Mount View: at Erskine Academy (11-3), 6:30 p.m. Tuesday

• Maranacook: vs. Madison (8-6), 6:30 p.m. Monday