Somebody from Suffolk League VI finally figured out how to beat the Southampton boys basketball team.

Shoreham-Wading River led host Southampton by a point with 23.7 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. All it needed was one more stop to pull off the upset on Thursday night.

The Mariners tried to get to the rim, but every lane was clogged with Wildcats. They passed the ball around, trying to create an opening, but the visitors refused to budge.

With the game clock ticking down toward zero, Southampton tried to get the ball to the left corner, where Brian Spellman stood open. That’s when Tyler Lievre zoomed in, tipped the ball to himself and intercepted the pass to secure Shoreham-Wading River’s 54-53 win.

Lievre, a sophomore forward, did a little bit of everything to help claw out the victory for the Wildcats (14-3, 8-3), finishing with seven points, eight rebounds, three assists and five steals.

The win kept SWR in sole possession of second place in Suffolk VI and prevented Southampton (12-3, 10-1) from clinching the outright league title for now.

“We knew this game was going to be all about defense coming in,” Lievre said. “That last play, I saw my opportunity to jump it. That felt great. I mean, this is Southampton — we just beat them. Huge win.”

The Wildcats entered the fourth quarter trailing 40-34 after being outscored 20-5 in the third quarter. The poor period squandered a strong first half that ended in a buzzer-beating, fast-break layup by senior center Owen Crowley off an assist from senior guard Max Boerum, giving them a 29-20 lead going into halftime.

The fourth quarter featured five lead changes, the last of which came with 3:30 left on a step-back three-pointer by Boerum from the right wing.

Boerum scored seven points of his 24 points in the fourth quarter. He also handed out three assists, including one on a full-court pass with 2:16 left to set up a driving layup by junior forward Zachary Makarewicz that extended the lead to 51-48.

“We were getting everyone involved from the start, and everyone did their part on offense and defense, and I think that’s what won us the game tonight,” Boerum said. “As a captain and leader, I thought I had to lead the team, and my shots going in really helped that. This just shows our fight and grit; we’ll fight to the buzzer. This is one of the best teams we’ve had in a while.”

Senior guard Alex Franklin led Southampton with 19 points, followed by senior guards Saevion Ward and Brian Spellman with 16 apiece.

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