INDIAN TRAIL — Cuthbertson High boys basketball coach Mike Helms left his former school, Porter Ridge, with a thrilling 49-45 win on Thursday evening.

Helms was the only coach in Porter Ridge’s five-year history prior to this season, and had to feel some emotion returning to the Indian Trail campus with a different team.

“I was looking forward to this game,” Helms said. “Not necessarily because this is a team we have to beat, but just because it’s going to be a fun night. “... I asked the kids to play for me tonight because it was an important game for me.”

The game did not have conference implications, but the Cavaliers now stand at 3-7, while the Pirates are 2-6.

Mike Cuthbertson scored a game-high 27 points while adding four blocks. Helms admitted that Mike Cuthbertson played the game the way he is supposed to play.

“He was the Mike we want him to be tonight,” Helms said. “He was very aggressive, played with a lot of intensity and I’m really proud that he stepped up at the end of this week and played that way.”

Mike Cuthbertson was also pleased with his efforts, specifically his game-high 11 rebounds.

“I think I did what coach Helms wanted me to do tonight,” Mike Cuthbertson said. “He’s been telling me to stay in the post, something my dad has been saying all week. I’ve been trying to work on it. The day before we came up here I was just throwing balls off the backboard and trying to put them back in. I tried my best and came out successful.”

The Cavs opened strong off two Cody Esser 3-pointers and led 15-12 after the first quarter. Mike Cuthbertson got his eighth rebound of the evening late in the second quarter, turning it into a put-back, two-handed dunk that pushed the Cavalier lead to 23-17.

Porter Ridge would fight back however in the second half. Trailing 39-37, sophomore Tyrelle Warrdell drove to the basket to tie the game at 39-all. Wardell scored a team-high 12 points, including two 3-pointers.

Porter Ridge’s P.J. Freeman made his way to the free-throw line on the following possession, knocking down two free throws and pushing the lead to 41-39 in favor of the Pirates — their first lead since early in the first quarter.

But Mike Cuthbertson would not be denied, scoring back-to-back field goals, including one with 2:23 remaining in regulation where he was surrounded in the paint by four PR defenders. He made the bucket and drew a foul. Mike Cuthbertson would make the free throw after Helms called a timeout to deliver a message to his team.

“That basket came at a big point and what we were asking them was to get two-straight stops,” Helms said. “We just wanted to turn it and focus on the defense where if we get two-straight stops, we’re going to put them in a position that’s going to be hard to beat us.”

Porter Ridge came away with one more field goal, but the Cavalier defense got their two stops and junior Chris Bristow made two clutch free throws on the way to the four-point win.

PR girls improve to 7-1

Raven Falls scored a game-high 18 points as the Porter Ridge girls team (7-1) defeated Cuthbertson 66-25.

The Porter Ridge defense held the Cavs (0-10) to just two points in the first half, but CHS scored 23 in the second half to cut the large deficit.

Jada Huntley added 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Pirates, while Sydney Sebastian scored a team-high seven points for the Cavs. Freshman Kathleen Cashman added six points for CHS.

Both teams will resume play at the CMC Union Holiday Classic on Dec. 26.