A sampling of comments from those involved in Albert Lea’s most recent game:

“I thought that was our best game of the year.” — Lucas Kreuscher, Albert Lea coach

“It was by far our best, complete game of the year.” — Colby Strilaeff, Albert Lea senior

“(Lucas Kreuscher) has got those kids playing well. They take care of the ball, play great defense and take good shots.” — Jim Dimick, Richfield coach

These good vibes about the state of Albert Lea boys’ basketball were spoken after a Tigers loss, 72-67, to Richfield in the Tigers Classic championship game Tuesday. Yes, Albert Lea had a 52-48 lead with 7:45 left in the game. Sure, Albert Lea held Richfield point guard Jay Sewer in check in the first half. Certainly, the Tigers top two scoring options — Colby Strilaeff and Kyle Ooms — combined for 42 points.

For a two-minute stint late in the second half Richfield scored nine consecutive points, to go from trailing by four to leading by five. To the Tigers credit, they did not go away at that point, regaining their composure but never again the lead.

“We were very lucky to come out of it with a victory,” Dimick said. “It could’ve gone either way.”

The Tigers also lucky, but their luck came early on. To start the game, Richfield used heavy ball pressure to force turnovers. Albert Lea had four turnovers in the first 2 minutes, 40 seconds, yet the Spartans were only able to turn those miscues into three points. Nevertheless, the ball pressure had the Tigers playing tentatively, according to Kreuscher.

“The first half we kind of stood around watching,” Kreuscher said. “The second half we did a better job of attacking.”

It was the second consecutive game the Tigers enjoyed a second-half scoring surge. After trailing 29-22 at half, Albert Lea crept slowly back into the game. Then in old-school fashion, diminutive senior guard, Damian Montes, scored a three-pointer at the 11:11 mark of the second half by driving the lane, getting fouled and hitting the free throw. That knotted the score at 44.

Over the next three and a half minutes Ooms and junior Alik Smed gave the Tigers the lead. Smed hit a 12-foot jumper at 10:45. Ooms followed with one of two free throws, followed by an Ooms field goal and free throw, followed by an Ooms pass to Smed for two. Smed’s bucket gave Albert Lea a 52-48 lead. Ooms finished with 22 points and Smed notched five.

But from there the Spartans took over, namely quick senior point guard Jay Sewer, who finished with 23 points.

“Our coach told us he’d go to the middle and pass it out,” said Montes, one of the guards in charge of guarding him. Montes finished with five points.

Sewer did that and more. He hit three-pointers, drove around defenders, made passes to wide-open teammates and made free throws. The Albert Lea coaching staff agreed the team struggled with Sewer’s diverse skill set.

Strilaeff thought the Spartans were comparable to many of the Tigers’ Big 9 opponents, and so he was excited to be competitive.

“This gives us confidence heading into the Big 9 schedule,” he said.

Richfield 72, Albert Lea 67

Albert Lea 22 45 — 67

Richfield 29 43 — 72

Albert Lea scoring:

Damian Montes 5, Taylor Bordelon 3, Alik Smed 5, Colby Strilaeff 20, Silas Randall 4, Kyle Ooms 22, Cameron Hove 8

Richfield scoring:

Daron Garvis 7, Darrien Johnson 5, Erik Jimson 6, Jared Noonan 4, Jay Sewer 23, John Johnson 2, Ben Webster 7, Corey Fitzgerald 5, Lorenzo Evans 6, Jared Etienne 7