WALES – Nine seconds + two full chances to plot its final move + two points from the person everybody knew would get the ball = 13 years of tournament drought, quenched, for the Oak Hill High School boys’ basketball team.

Chad Bussiere and Shawn Greenier worked the ball inside to a surprisingly open Bronson Drewry, and the explosive, 6-foot-3 senior dropped in the uncontested layup with one second remaining in regulation Tuesday to give Oak Hill a 44-43 Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference victory over Winslow.

Barring any monumental upsets on the bottom floor of the Western Class B Heal Point standings this week, Oak Hill (5-12) clinched its first invitational tournament berth since 1994-95.

“And I think we can win a game,” said Oak Hill coach Bruce Nicholas, who also coached the Raiders to their last playoff appearance before a lengthy hiatus. “We’ve scouted all the teams we might play, and there’s no reason why we can’t.”

Easy to understand that optimism after this one, which had all the earmarks of an elimination game: Three tense, unspectacular quarters, followed by a squall of lead changes (seven), ties (five) and plot twists (just about every possession) in the fourth.

Winslow (5-12) needed a win, too, to move up a notch and gain the 15th and final Eastern B tourney berth.

The Black Raiders seemed to have it when Mike McCann scrambled to save a loose ball off an Oak Hill player’s foot, then capped the ensuing possession with a put-back for a 43-42 lead with 9.4 seconds to go.

Oak Hill called time out immediately, then again after crossing the time line with 4.6 ticks left. After the second huddle, Bussiere’s inbounds pass found Greenier in the corner.

With time wasting, Winslow naturally double-teamed the junior with the ball. That left the dangerous Drewry slashing through the paint to the block and into his own Zip code.

“I was hoping I wouldn’t miss. I was about to go crazy if I missed,” Drewry said. “It kind of just went in by itself. I really didn’t have anything to do with it.”

Winslow emerged from a last-ditch time out with a baseball pass but couldn’t muster a shot as time expired.

Drewry scored 11 of his game-high 21 points in the fourth quarter as Oak Hill avenged a 20-point December road loss.

Nick Brown added 11 points and five assists for the Raiders, who entered the game ninth with a week remaining in a bracket where 10 teams make the cut.

Still reaping the Heal Point windfall from an early-season upset of Gardiner, Oak Hill faces a likely road trip to Wells or Lake Region in next week’s preliminary round.

“The tenth spot is about the lowest we can go,” Drewry said. “This was big. But I think if we didn’t beat (Gardiner), we probably wouldn’t be in the playoffs.”

Oak Hill’s 8-2 lead in the first quarter was the largest for either team. Two was the widest margin for the final 12 minutes.

Winslow missed seven of nine from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter and was 4-for-14 overall.

James Wood provided the foil to Drewry, erupting for 10 of his team-high 13 in the final stanza for Winslow. Scott Siviski added 11.

Bussiere had two big buckets for Oak Hill early in the fourth quarter, when all seven field goals were the direct result of an assist. None were bigger than the one Greenier threaded through two sets of flailing arms to Drewry.

“We’ve had some close games this year, so we’re getting better at handling them,” Nicholas said. “If we panic, we throw it away. A year ago, I think we would have missed that.”

[email protected]