FARMINGTON – In the fall, it might have been a slant, a post, or a waggle. In the winter, it was just the perfect pass.

Mt. Blue’s Garrett Lake hit Brian Wells with the half-court inbounds pass, leading to Wells’ game-winning free throw with 1.9 seconds remaining to lift the Cougars to a 40-39 win over Brewer in Eastern Class A basketball action Tuesday night.

Wells took in the pass under the basket and was fouled as he went up for the shot.

“It was a designed play,” said Lake. “We practice it at least once a week. Brian was the number one target. My man just stood there and when I looked at the corner he went there. I knew Brian was going to be open.”

“It was just like practice,” said Wells of the game winning shot from the charity stripe. “Zone out everything. Zone out the crowd, the time, the score, everything. Just hit it.”

For much of the game, there was little indication it would come down to the final seconds. Mt. Blue (7-1) came out strong and led 8-0 before the Witches (1-3) could get on the board. Close to five minutes elapsed before Brewer’s Chris Wilson hit a three-pointer.

The Cougars did it almost exclusively inside scoring 22 of their 26 first-half points in the paint. Wilson hit another three at the buzzer to cut the Cougar margin to 26-22 at the half.

Brewer fought back in the third quarter and with the help of Mt. Blue’s abandonment of the inside game, closed the margin. A three-pointer by Wilson with 1:50 knotted the score at 30 and a field goal by Drew Francis gave the Witches a 32-30 lead to start the final eight minutes.

“In the second half we went cold and we didn’t pass like we had been,” said Lake. “We couldn’t make the layups or make the extra pass to get a clean layup.”

When Andy Frost collected a pair of freethrows with 2:06 left, Brewer led 39-34. Steve Wells’ three-pointer (one of two in the quarter) and a Brian Wells’ turn-around jumper set the stage for the final theatrics.

“Garrett made a great pass and Brian made a great catch,” said Mt. Blue coach Jim Bessey. “He hit one of the foul shots and that’s all we needed. We didn’t play great but we won and that’s very important.”

“I thought our intensity wasn’t very good in the first half,” said Brewer coach Mark Reed. “We gave up too many easy baskets but I think our defense improved in the second half. It all came down to the final minute when they executed situation plays and we didn’t.”

Brian Wells led the Cougars with 14 points. Wilson led all scorers with 15 for the Witches. Frost added 13.

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