After a struggle of a first half, the La Salle-Peru boys basketball team was looking for a spark against host Streator.

That spark came from freshman forward Gavin Stokes.

Stokes went on a personal eight-point run midway into the third quarter, his first of two 3-pointers from just right of the top of the key giving the Cavaliers their first lead of the contest.

He then knocked down a pair of free throws with 14.7 seconds left to help L-P hold on for a 51-45 victory at Pops Dale Gymnasium.

“Gavin stepped up and hit some big shots for us in the third quarter and then hit a couple of really big free throws late to keep it a two-possession game,” La Salle-Peru coach John Senica said. “I also thought Braylin Bond had a nice game overall and did a good job of getting to the rim.”

Bond led the Cavaliers with 13 points, three assists and three steals. Marion Persich posted 11 points, seven rebounds and three assists, Stokes finished with 10 points and four rebounds, and Jameson Hill added nine points.

L-P (12-4) trailed the hosts 9-8 after the opening quarter, 25-19 at halftime, and the teams were tied at 36-all heading to the fourth quarter.

“We didn’t come over here ready to play. Credit Streator, they came out ready to go from the start, but we didn’t,” Senica said. “They flat-out outplayed us in the first half. We weren’t aggressive on defense, we weren’t rebounding, and we weren’t running our offense. We were just going through the motions.

“The adjustment at halftime was pretty simple. I chewed their butts and told them they needed to start playing basketball. We played better in the second half, but we never really got close to the level we need to be at.”

Stokes’s third-period burst turned a four-point L-P deficit into a four-point lead. The visitors opened the fourth on an 8-2 run, with Persich scoring on a trio of looks at the rim.

The Bulldogs (6-9) closed to 47-44 with 16 seconds remaining on a corner 3-pointer by Brennen Stillwell off an assist from LA Moton, but two free throws from Stokes and two more from Erick Sotelo with a second to go sealed the win.

Moton led Streator with 16 points, four rebounds and four assists, while Stillwell added 13 points and five rebounds. Christian Bruton scored nine points on a trio of treys, with Joe Hoekstra chipping in seven points and eight rebounds.

Streator outshot L-P (18-of-40) 45% to (19-of-46) 41% and held a 29-26 rebound advantage, but lost the turnover battle 16-9.

“La Salle-Peru is a very good team that has a lot of versatility and size,” Streator coach Beau Doty said. “They are a tough matchup and have the ability to put up 70 or 80 points a night. We wanted to take the ball at Persich – he’s such a dynamic player for them – as much as we could tonight and hopefully get him into foul trouble. We did, but we just couldn’t find a way to get separation with him on the bench.

“I thought our guys battled their butts off tonight. The result isn’t what we are looking for, but these kids keep putting in the work every day to get better, and [there are] a lot of positives to take away from tonight when we watch the film. We had great energy and effort from start to finish, but we missed a couple free throws late and had a couple of good looks from the perimeter rim out.

“LA had an outstanding game for us tonight. He was able to find some gaps to drive into and score and also knocked down a couple outside shots when they played off to stop his drive. He had the right mixture of knowing times to attack, to shoot and to pass.”

Both sides are back in action Friday in road conference games. L-P is at Rochelle in the Interstate 8, while Streator is at Herscher in the Illinois Central Eight.