Just 2.9 seconds remained in a tie basketball game when the ball was awarded to Pinecrest on its own end of the court in Monday’s freshmen boys’ contest against Richmond.

“I was supposed to set a screen for Will (Lassiter),” Patriot forward Justin Marks said of the play called during the time out by coach Steve Lassiter.

On an afternoon that he scored a team-high 16 points, Will Lassiter was unable to break free from the Raider defenders. Instead, the ball went to Marks in the middle of the court about 35 feet from the basket. The 6-foot-4 forward only had time to make the catch and launch a low trajectory shot that found nothing but net, giving the Patriots a 43-40 home victory.

The Patriots (6-4) evened the score against a Raider squad that jumped out to a 17-0 lead and defeated them 47-29 in an earlier meeting. Lassiter finished with three treys. Marks had a pair of threes to go with a dozen points. The Patriots complete the season with a game at Hoke County on Thursday.

Unlike the first game between the teams, this one was close from beginning to end.

“We came out focused,” Marks said. “We ran our plays right this time.”

Both teams had trouble breaking each other’s zone defenses. Two threes by Lassiter accounted for the final six Patriot points of the first half that ended with the home side trailing by one point.

The Raider lead ranged from one to four points for most of the second half until Patriot point guard Mishak McRae whipped a long pass to Shiheme McCrimmon for a layup that gave the Pats a 33-32 lead with just under four minutes remaining in the game.

The lead changed hands several more times. McRae, who played a strong floor and defensive game, drove for a basket with 1:35 remaining that gave the Patriots a 40-39 advantage, but one of the Raiders tied it back up with a free throw at the 39.6-second mark.

The Patriots were unable to get off a clean shot following a first time out called by coach Lassiter. But when the ball went out of bounds and was awarded to the Patriots, he called another one. That led to one final possession and the heroic shot by Marks.

Other scorers for the Patriots included Nick Williamson with five points and Jadan Thomas with four.

Freshmen Girls Win

The Pinecrest freshmen girls scored the final four points of the first half, and the first 10 after the intermission, to distance themselves from Richmond at James Moore Gym Monday afternoon.

Coach David Sundheim’s squad improved to 5-4 and scored a season high in points in the 58-36 victory. Alex Billings led the Patriots with 16 points, including two of the team’s six threes in the game.

The final points in the decisive 14-0 run that spanned parts of the second and third quarters came on a layup in transition by Ebony Nelson. Point guard Micahla Kitchen scored eight points, including a pair of threes.

Sam Clark drained the final Patriot trey near the end of the game.