Before Friday night’s Civil War at Mountain View, Bend High coach Scott Baker addressed his squad.

A battle of Class 5A top-10 teams was minutes away from tipping off, but Baker eased the Lava Bears’ nerves with a simple reminder: Have fun.

“They get an opportunity to play in a crosstown rivalry with their best friends,” Baker said. “They get to go out and play a game and enjoy themselves.”

Baker’s pregame talk seemed to do the trick, as 5A No. 8-ranked Bend raced to a 20-point lead in the first half before holding off No. 3 Mountain View for a 73-62 Intermountain Conference boys basketball win.

“We’re back in control of our destiny,” Baker said. “We just have to continue to play hard. It’s a great win, but we still have other games to finish.”

Bend (5-2 IMC, 13-5 overall) appeared as though it would roll to victory after ripping off 13 straight points to grab a 22-12 lead early in the second period. Bend’s advantage swelled to 18 points late in the first half, as the Bears’ Trevin Reeser drilled a 3-pointer to stake the visitors to a commanding 32-14 lead.

Mountain View fell into a 22-point hole in the third quarter, but led by guard Chase McClain, the Cougars (6-1, 14-4) surged back in the fourth. Of his 15 points scored over the game’s final eight minutes, 11 came during a run that helped the No. 3 Cougars, who trailed by 19 points heading into the quarter, climb back to within eight at 63-55 with two minutes left.

Bend, however, hit its free throws down the stretch to secure the win, moving the Bears into a tie with Summit for second place in the IMC, one game behind Mountain View with five games left in the regular season.

“We just didn’t come out ready to play in the first half,” said Mountain View coach Brian Broaddus. “Bend was hot, and we had to fight from downhill the whole way.”

The Lava Bears continued to pull away at the start of the third quarter, as a quick layup by Brian Warinner was followed by a top-of-the-key 3-pointer from Jimmy Robertson, earning the Bears’ their largest lead of the game at 45-23.

Mountain View, however, did not fold. McClain, who had been in foul trouble all night and struggled to find an offensive rhythm, connected on his first field goal with just over two minutes left in the third period, kicking off an 8-2 spurt by the Cougars to cut Bend’s lead to 47-31.

McClain picked up his fourth foul in the quarter, as did standout post Matt Van Tassell, resulting in Mountain View having to play with a young and inexperienced lineup for the remainder of the period. Bend took advantage and carried a 53-34 lead into the fourth.

“I’m proud of my sophomores,” said Broaddus, whose team is composed of five sophomores and another two players called up from the JV team for Friday’s game. “I was playing five sophomores on the floor. Bend’s a really good team, but we won the fourth quarter 28-20, and I was playing five sophomores. They were fighting, and they never quit.”

After returning to the floor for the fourth quarter, McClain went off to help Mountain View get to within 63-55 before the Lava Bears’ iced the victory with free throws to snap an eight-game losing streak in the Civil War series.

“They executed our game plan,” Baker said of his players. “They got a little nervous at the end of the game, but Mountain View was making us do some things that we weren’t ready for. But the kids got the job done.”

Warinner had 21 points to lead the way for Bend. Justin Kerr scored 15, and Robertson had 12 for the Lava Bears, who hit 23 of 32 free throws compared with Mountain View’s 10-for-10 clip.

Van Tassell finished with 19 points for Mountain View, whose 10-game winning streak came to an end, and McClain added 18 points.