ST. JAMES - With Blair Oaks and Waynesville tied with just 2 seconds left, the Falcons didn't have many options with the length of the floor to go.
The option they chose won the game.
Waynesville's Jayden Smith put in a layup to tie it at 59. After a timeout, Smith guarded the baseline and Carson Prenger sprinted to his right as Eric Northweather set a screen, resulting in Smith knocking Northweather to the floor. A foul was called.
Northweather then made the first free throw and missed the second, and Waynesville's in-bounds pass following a timeout was slapped away by Prenger to seal a 60-59 victory for Blair Oaks on Friday in the semifinals of the St. James Tournament.
The top-seeded Falcons advance to play St. James at 6:30 p.m. today in the championship game.
Fifth-seeded Waynesville (9-5) will face Sullivan at 5 p.m. in the third-place game.
Blair Oaks had to rally from an 11-point deficit in the fourth quarter.
Waynesville began the fourth quarter on a 9-1 run to lead 49-38 with about five minutes left.
Nearly a minute later, Luke Northweather stole the ball away and Jake Closser made a 3-pointer from the corner to pull Blair Oaks to within three.
With less than two minutes left, Eric Northweather converted a three-point play for a 56-54 lead.
Hunter O'Neil made a 3 for Waynesville with :25 left and Luke Northweather finished off a three-point play after an offensive rebound with :08 left before Smith's game-tying layup.
Blair Oaks (14-2), the top-ranked team in Class 3, got behind early, trailing 16-9 at the end of the first quarter but led 29-28 at halftime.
Eric Northweather scored 27 points and Luke Northweather added 15 points.