The Morris boys basketball team made a furious comeback Wednesday against the Streator Bulldogs, transforming an 11-point deficit with five minutes to play into an improbable one-point lead with 1:40 remaining.

Senior post Joe Hoekstra on a nifty assist from Brennen Stillwell gave the Bulldogs back the lead. Then junior TJ Horton made certain the visitors did not come back again.

With his team cradling a three-point advantage in the closing seconds, Horton fought through a backcourt screen, caught up to the Morris ballhandler with four seconds remaining and stole the ball from behind. He then sank the game-clinching free throw and another for good measure as the Bulldogs survived for a 47-42 nonconference win at Pops Dale Gymnasium.

“I just saw the ball, and I knew I had to go get it,” Horton said of the late-game steal. “That’s really it. And I knew I had to hit those [free throws] to seal the game.

“I was tired of losing. We had to get one.”

Horton’s game-clinching free throws with 1.5 seconds remaining were his only points, but the wing – recently moved into the Bulldogs’ starting lineup – provided a large impact throughout with his defense. That knack proved especially valuable as Streator (10-13) tried to hold on after Morris (7-15) pieced together a 10-0 fourth quarter run to briefly capture the lead, 42-41.

“That [Morris] team has a lot of fight, a lot of heart,” Streator coach Beau Doty said, “and I know they’re a lot like us in terms of the outcomes and the record not being where we want them to be this year. But we have so much respect for them, and we knew it was going to be a really big challenge. ...

“TJ is in there for his ability to defend, but he’s getting better each day offensively too. He made some nice plays in the first half ... and obviously, we’re in a good spot up three when he got that steal, but those are pressure free throws to ice the game. It’s nice to see him step up into that role and thrive in it.”

LA Moton – who added two clutch free throws between Hoekstra’s lead-retaking layup with 1:14 left and Horton’s game-sealers with 1.5 seconds remaining – finished with a team-high 18 points. Hoesktra recorded a 12-point, 11-rebound double-double, with Stillwell also providing 12 points in addition to his two steals, six rebounds and game-best three assists.

RJ Kennedy posted 18 points and seven rebounds to lead Morris in both categories. Caden Medler had four points and four rebounds, while senior point guard Landon Norris – held scoreless the entirety of the first half with foul trouble confining him to the bench – finished with 12 points, including seven straight to lift Morris to its brief one-point advantage.

“Being down 11 with about four, five minutes left, if we would have completed [that comeback] it would have been amazing,” said Norris, who scored nine of his 12 points in the final quarter. “Coming up a little short, we still had a great effort.

“Our defense was there. We just didn’t get the couple tries on offense we needed.”

Morris finished shooting 43.9% (18 of 41) from the field to Streator’s 34.3% (12 of 35), an advantage more than offset by Streator’s 65.4% free throw shooting (17 of 26) to the visitors’ meager 50% (1 of 2).

Morris has now lost nine of its last 10 dating back to early January.

“I’m unbelievably proud of our guys,” Morris coach Joe Blumberg said. “The effort’s been there all the month of January and so far [in February]. I feel like I’m letting my guys down not doing enough to get them a win because I feel we deserved one tonight. ...

“The way we battled back on the road I think shows a lot about our team’s character.”