FREDERICK >> When the shots aren’t falling and the rim seems biased, the best teams find a way to win.

Such was the case for Holy Family boys basketball who, after four quarters of sloppy basketball, defeated Frederick on the road with a 56-43 final.

Neither team could match the intensity of the girls’ game before them, especially on the scoring end, but seniors Rocco Howes (18 points) and Roman Elliott (11), and junior Caleb Schott (14), found a way to break through the noise for the Tigers.

Three nights earlier, the Tigers fell by just one point, 55-54, to Horizon.

“We had a close loss last week to Horizon, who’s a really good team,” Howes said.

“We knew coming into this that these guys always battle, and we knew we had to come back at it. They came out strong, but we persisted our way in there and got the win.

“We play together. I mean, every guy is looking for himself and we just got guys after guys who can play, score the ball, play defense. We take pride in our defense and that’s what we do really well.”

It certainly didn’t help the Golden Eagles that their 3-point shooting identity had all but evaporated. Still, they found a way to get to the paint with their speed and athleticism, even if they did come up short.

Juniors Ollie Justice and Zach Burton paced the Golden Eagles with 10 points apiece, and junior Dante Lechuga was right behind them with nine points of his own.

“At halftime, we found out we were 0 for 11 (from 3-point range), so we really had to find the drive more, get to the (paint), kick out,” Justice said. “We just got to find a body more. They got a lot of offensive boards. They weren’t really scoring the first time, then they get the offensive board, but I think we limited it pretty well.”

Both squads slowly ticked the number up on the scoreboard, but a dry first half left Holy Family up 18-15. That lead, while minimal, never swayed in the last two quarters, as the Tigers relied on putback after putback to carry them to victory.

Howes accentuated his team’s efforts with a dunk toward the end of the game to dot the exclamation point.

Both teams have struggled to find consistency this season, with Holy Family sprinkling losses in with short winning streaks as Frederick has now lost four straight. The Golden Eagles, for their part, are missing their big man and leading scorer, Jovan Aldana, who’s out for the season with an injury.

The Tigers, now 8-5 overall and 3-2 in Granite Peaks League play, will head to Fairview on Tuesday, while Frederick (7-8, 2-4) hits the road to Monarch on the same night. Howes hopes this contest can help vault the Tigers forward as they delve deeper into league play.

“We’re always looking at one game at a time, never looking ahead, but this is a big win,” he said.

“They’re a good team. It’s all competition, every game. We know we have to come out here to win and make playoffs.”