TAUNTON — Tuesday's Hockomock League matchup between Taunton High and Oliver Ames came down to the final seconds.
Taunton High's Dante Law stepped into the spotlight.
"Coach set the play up for me and I just took the shot," Law said. "This one was probably the best, basketball moment for me so far."
Law knocked down an NBA three-pointer with three seconds left to lift the hometown Tigers to a dramatic 61-60 victory over OA inside the Rabouin field house on the campus of Taunton High School.
"That final shot was nowhere near what we drew up in the huddle," Taunton head coach Charlie Dacey said. "Dante had the guts to take that shot and he also has the skills to bury the shot. That happens in high school basketball. It was a big win."
Lens Esquil led the way for THS (7-4) with a team-high 19 points, including 12 in the first half. John Martins chipped in with 13 points while Law and Malik Charles each finished with 10 points.
Jack Spillane had a game-high 20 points for the visiting Tigers. Teammate Matt Muir finished with 12 points and Jack Erlich chipped in with 10 points.
Spillane, who was averaging a league-best 25 points per game, scored just eight second-half points and was held scoreless in the fourth quarter.
The hometown Tigers held the visitors to just to eight points in the fourth quarter.
OA (4-6) came out firing in the third period to take a 52-46 lead over Taunton entering the final stanza. The visiting Tigers, who outscored Taunton 24-12 in the third, hit their first four shots of the quarter to quickly erase a six-point deficit at halftime. OA appeared to be in command with 5:41 remaining after a three-point bucket by Muir to give the visitors a 57-51 lead. But THS tied the game at 58-58 with basket by Esquil.
With 20.8 second left, Ethan Eckstrom hit a floater in the paint to give the visitors a 60-58 lead.
Taunton worked the clock down and Law's deep 3-pointer rattled in, setting off a wild explosion in the stands.
"The second half is more like the way we're capable of playing," OA head coach Don Bryon said. "The first half, not as much. My kids deserve better tonight, honestly. They fought hard in that second half. Then the [Taunton] kid hits one from, God know how far away, with a hand in his face. That was unfortunate and hard to take."
Taunton jumped out quickly opening up a 10-point lead (14-4) before settling for 16-10 advantage at the end of the first. Esquil led the way with six points.
OA tied the game at 24-24 midway through the second quarter on a Spillane jump shot but the hometown Tigers closed the quarter on an 10-4 run, keyed by several baskets from Law and Esquil.
That set the stage for a wild second half for both teams.
"We're not an offense team and you can see that," Dacey said. "We have to be a defensive team. We're not that yet but we're working on it. We have to get better defensively to hold people like that so we can score a few points. The kids dug in a little bit tonight and made better decisions."