Ethan Schneider and Tyrone Weeks combined for 18 points in the final six minutes to lead the Pilgrim boys’ basketball to a comeback victory over rival Warwick Vets, 53-39, to remain unbeaten in Division III.

“Our kids work hard every day in practice,” Pilgrim head coach Mike Batalon said. “I think we realized our backs were against the wall and we didn’t want to lose a rivalry game on home court.”

Jake Gonsalves and Nate Ferri led the charge for Vets (3-4), scoring 17 of the ’Canes’ 23 first-half points, but would go on to only score six total in the second half. Outside of those two, though, Vets struggled to find contributors. The rest of the team had 16 points and just one free throw attempt, while Gonsalves and Ferri combined for 16 attempts at charity stripe.

Pilgrim (7-0) was forced to play most of the second half without Weeks, as he was whistled for his fourth foul with just over a minute gone in the period. To make matters worse for the Pats, sophomore guard Matt Woods was assessed a technical foul near the midway point of the half, his fourth on the night.

The Pats kept pace with the ’Canes, though, after trailing 23-22 out of the break. Jadin Genao, Brandon Lawton and Tyler Perry each registered crucial baskets while big man Zach Johnson reeled in missed shots. With Pilgrim up 24-23 and the shot clock winding down, Perry put up an NBA-distance 3-pointer and sunk it to give the Pats some breathing room.

Gonsalves was able to score four straight points to help put Vets ahead 31-29, but Pilgrim took over from there. The Pats outscored the ’Canes 24-8 to close out the game, due in large part to Schneider finding his stroke and Weeks checking back in.

Genao knotted the score at 31 with a difficult layup, but Joe Gionti answered down the other end with a 3-pointer. Genao, who finished the night with four points, seven rebounds, two blocks and one steal, responded with a shot to cut the deficit to 1.

“Jadin played iron-man minutes for us,” Batalon said. “Did a great job in the press, is a presence on the boards.”

That was the final time the Pats would trail, as they would hold Gonsalves and Ferri scoreless from that point on and got the offense moving.

Pilgrim went up 35-34 on Lawton’s only field goal of the night and never looked back. Schneider then drilled a 3-pointer to build the lead up to 38-34 before a Weeks’ layup made it a six-point game after entering the game at the 4:53 mark.

“You just kind of go by feel,” Batalon said of when he knew to bring Weeks back in. “You don’t want to wait too long to not make his presence felt. It felt like the right time and it definitely helped change the flow of the game.”

That began a string of five unanswered points from the athletic sophomore, allowing the Pats to go up 43-34 with 3:10 to go. Schneider keyed in from 3-point territory again to produce the first double-digit lead of the night, while Pilgrim’s swarming defense on the ’Canes’ inbounds passes would provide for costly turnovers.

On the ensuing inbound, Weeks used his reach to jump up and steal the ball, before taking it in on the baseline, laying it up and getting fouled to effectively put the game out of reach. Schneider would add two more layups for good measure to help the Pats escape with the 53-39 victory.

“We’re missing that one-guard,” Vets head coach Chris LeBlanc said. “Last year, the last couple years, I had Josh [Muto] as my one, but we’ve got two very good two-men.”

The first half was a defensive battle as the Pats were held without a field goal for the first six minutes of action. Free throws from Woods and Schneider gave Pilgrim an early 5-0 lead, but it would evaporate as Ferri and Gonsalves caught fire.

“We knew who their scorers are,” LeBlanc said of the strong first-half defense. “And we had a very good effort on Friday against Chariho. Our man-to-man’s very good and so I wasn’t really surprised when we could play with anybody. I’m happy with that.”

The first field goal of the game came 3 1/2 minutes in when Ferri drilled a 3-pointer to cut into the Pilgrim lead, while Gonsalves poured in five of the next seven ’Canes’ points to give them a 10-7 advantage.

The Pats would go on a 15-3 run to go ahead, 22-13, until Gonsalves and Ferri went to work. The two helped manufacture a 10-0 surge to close out the first half.

Gonsalves and Ferri did most of their damage at the line, combining to go 10-of-14. The only other first-half attempt at the line came when Gionti missed the front end of a 1-and-1 opportunity.

Over the span of the 10-0 run into halftime, Gonsalves and Ferri went 6-of-6 from the line. Gionti’s only bucket of the half would give the ’Canes a 23-22 advantage heading into the break.

Pilgrim will look to stay undefeated on Friday when it hosts Chariho (5-1) to finish off its three-game slate against Division III-South opponents. The Chargers are red hot, having won five straight league games after dropping their opener to Johnston.

“Chariho’s an excellent team,” Batalon said. “They’re very balanced. They’re a deep team, so we have our work cut out for us. Couple hard days of practice and we’ll be ready for Friday.

The ’Canes seek to get back on track against their other cross-town rival, Toll Gate (3-4), on the road Thursday night. The Titans have lost their last two games, but are 2-1 at home on the season.

Vets will have a chance to deal the final blow in the rivalry when it meets up with Pilgrim one last time at home on Feb. 10. Despite that opportunity down the line, LeBlanc said his team is focused on earning a berth in the postseason above everything else.

“They want that win as much as any other win,” LeBlanc said. “We’re just trying to fight to get into the playoffs. We’re a young team this year, so we’re just going to fight every game as hard as we can.”