Genoa-Kingston coach Griffin McNeal called it a team meeting. Senior guard Cody Cravatta said the Cogs kind of got yelled at.

Either way, a motivated Cogs team bounced back from a disappointing loss to Indian Creek on Friday and held off a frantic Hinckley-Big Rock rally on Tuesday for a 73-72 home win.

The Cogs let a 15-point second-half lead slip away, but Blake Ides’ free throw with 4.8 seconds broke a tie and proved to be the game-winning point.

“I think it kind of motivated us to prove coach wrong because he wasn’t too happy with our last performance,” Cravatta said of the team’s 61-44 loss to the Timberwolves – the same Indian Creek team that defeated the Royals earlier this season.

After three ties and four lead changes in the first four minutes, the Cogs (4-8) opened up a 10-point lead before the first quarter ended.

The Royals (9-5) trailed by double digits most of the game, but cut the lead to 58-52 on a layup by Jacob Orin with 6:40 left.

Cravatta, who hit a 3-pointer on the possession before, answered with another 3-pointer, then got a steal and a layup to push the lead back to 11.

But the Royals surged back into the game without a 3-pointer. They did so by a combination of free throws and layups, and the Cogs missing free throws on their end.

Luke Badal connected on a layup with 1:22 left to cut the G-K lead to 70-66. Jack Peterson, who made seven of his first eight free-throw attempts, missed both of his.

Marshall Ledbetter’s layup cut the lead to two, then Trevor Rhoads pushed it back to three with 44.4 seconds left by splitting two free throws.

Badal put back his own miss with 25.5 seconds left to bring the Royals within 71-70, then Rhoads went 1-for-2 again to get the cushion back to two.

Orin tied the game for the Royals with 14.8 seconds left. Without intentionally fouling, Ides got sent to the line with 4.8 seconds left, missed his first shot, but made the second one to secure the win.

McNeal said the Cogs have generally struggled from the line this year. They were 12 of 17 from the line in the first half but 6 for 14 in the fourth quarter.

“It’s learning how to win. We trust those guys will knock down the free throws when they need to,” McNeal said. “One is just enough to get it done tonight. Trev is just a junior, I know he missed a couple, but we’ve got confidence he’s going to step up to the plate and do it.”

The Royals had a desperation shot just miss at the buzzer.

H-BR coach Seth Sanderson said the 40-27 hole at the break, which grew to as much as 48-33 in the second half, was too much to overcome.

“I thought we played well for 12 minutes and poorly for 20 minutes,” Sanderson said. “We let them control the game for far too long. We turned it on late, but you can only dig yourself out of so big of a hole.”

Cravatta said the focus of Monday’s team meeting was about staying energetic on defense. In the first half Tuesday, the Cogs were using misses and turnovers to result in transition points as they built up a big lead.

McNeal said he expected his seniors to step up after Monday, and was glad to see Cravatta (21 points) and Peterson (20 points) lead the way.

“He’s a steady guy and you know what you’re going to get out of him every day,” McNeal said of Cravatta, who’s shifted to coming off the bench after starting earlier in the year. “He’s never going to be high or low. Coaching him in football, he’s the same way. He’s a great leader, great quarterback for the same reason. He’s such a steady presence. He’s not going to take anything too seriously but you know he’s going to do his best to win.”

Badal led the Royals with 26, Orin had 20 and Ledbetter had 13.

The Royals, who have lost four of their last five games, resume Little 10 play Friday at Somonauk. The Cogs host BNC foes Rock Falls on Wednesday and Rockford Lutheran on Friday.

McNeal said he was glad the team responded well after Friday’s loss and the meeting Monday. And he was especially proud of Cravatta and Peterson, three-year varsity players.

“It got real, brutally honest with them,” McNeal said. “We just challenged everyone to step up. ... Jack had 20, Cody had 21. Jack rebounded the ball very well (seven rebounds). Cody’s usually a shooter but got to the basket well. They really stepped up and that’s what I wanted to see.”