Friends Academy boys basketball's Chase O'Brien keys Nassau 'A' quarterfinal win over Valley Stream North

This basketball game was slipping away from Friends Academy with a Nassau Class A final four ticket on the line. The lead was down to one, 2:10 left, and Matt Johnsen called for time and was trying to keep his guys calm in the face of Valley Stream North’s spirited charge.

“Deep breath, deep breath, deep breath,” the Quakers coach told his players in that moment inside their gym.

And they did keep their poise. But they also had two other elements going for them. No. 1 — extreme motivation. VSN had ended their season in this same round here a year and a day earlier, and the Spartans beat them here last month.

Friends Academy also had Chase O’Brien standing tall in more ways than one. The 6-6 junior center scored 10 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter, including three key free throws in the final 1:28, and he swatted away a shot during those intense final two minutes.

The fourth-seeded Quakers emerged Saturday with a 60-52 quarterfinal victory over the fifth-seeded Spartans.

“This is the best win in long time,” Johnsen said. “This one was personal. We had a great group of seniors last year . . . We lost a playoff game on this floor. We were the two seed. We wanted to go to a college court (for the semifinals), and they took that from us last year.

“So this one had a little extra juice to it. We wanted this one bad.”

Freshman point guard Jax Saulter also excelled, going 9-for-10 at the line and scoring 17. So the 13-8 Quakers will face ninth-seeded Lynbrook (16-6) in the semis next Saturday night at Farmingdale State.

“I think we’re going upstate,” O’Brien said when asked about their county title hopes. “We’ve got high chances . . . I love the team, the coaches. Johnsen is a great coach.”

O’Brien scored off his offensive rebound for a 47-40 lead with 5:47 remaining. But the Spartans (14-7) rallied, and Tristan Mitchell finally tied it at 52 with a free throw at the 1:51 mark.

Shane Kramer hit one of two at the line, giving Friends the edge again. After an empty VSN possession, O’Brien made two free throws — 55-52.

Following a timeout, Vin Rienzie drove hard, but O’Brien blocked his shot.

With 44 seconds left, O’Brien made one of two at the stripe for a four-point advantage. Jared Williams added two free throws with 20 seconds to go and Saulter did the same at 9.4.

“I looked at the scoreboard and I just knew that I needed to make something happen,” O’Brien said about his final quarter. “I knew I needed to change the game in some way, somehow.”

The Quakers led 14-13 after one quarter, 29-25 at halftime and 41-36 after three. And they ultimately survived strong Spartans work by Kai Fields, who contributed 18 points, including 10 in the fourth, and Rienzie, who scored 14.

“We didn’t play our best,” coach Michael McVeigh said. “They did a great job. They deserved to win.”