BLOCK ATTEMPT by Lake Region's Nate Smith. (Rivet Photos)
LAKERS (42)
Quinn Piland 4-0-9, Nate Smith 3-1-9, Jackson Lesure 4-1-10, Tyler Walker 2-0-4, Nick Hall 3-2-8, Marcus DeVoe 1-0-2, Nick Wandishin, Alex Langadas, Brandon Palmer.
3-Pointers: Smith (2), Piland, Lesure
Turnovers: 13
FT: 4-of-6
FG: 17-of-48
Rebounds: 25, Hall 8, Lesure 7, Walker 3, Piland 3, Smith 2, DeVoe 2
WAYNFLETE (41)
Milo Belleau 5-4-14, Abel Alemayo 3-0-7, Harry Baker-Connick 2-5-9, Tom Silk 3-3-9, Yai Deng 1-0-2
3-Pointers: Alemayo
Turnovers: 14
FT: 12-of-16
FG: 14-of-36
Rebounds: 21, Silk 6, Deng 4, Belleau 4, Baker-Connick 3, Hutchinson 2, Alemayo 2

By Wayne E. Rivet
Staff Writer
With 1.7 seconds left on the clock and the game tied at 41-41, senior Nick Hall left his first foul shot short of the rim.
The Lake Region crowd let out a gasp.
No problem. On a night when the Lakers went to the line just six times (all in the second half), Hall sank the game winner to send Waynflete to its first defeat of the season, 42-41 Tuesday night.
In the closing seconds, junior Nate Smith drove the baseline, but left his one-handed shot off the glass and Hall collected the crucial rebound and was fouled, setting up the deciding shot.
Hall finished with a solid night against a big Waynflete front line with eight points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots.
Although Waynflete is a Class C team, the Flyers proved they can compete with the big boys of Class B. They knocked off highly-regarded Yarmouth and sported a 7-0 mark entering Tuesday’s action.
Lake Region (8-3) jumped out to leads of 9-2 and 11-4 as Quinn Piland scored all nine of his points, including a three-pointer.
Junior captain Milo Belleau rallied the Flyers with six straight points and senior captain Harry Baker-Connick made three straight foul shots after being fouled behind the arc to trim the Laker lead to 14-13 after one.
The Flyers tight defense caused four Laker turnovers, and enabled Waynflete to go on a 9-2 run for a 22-16 lead.
Hall stopped the Flyers’ momentum with two big offensive rebounds resulting in four straight LR points. With 49.6 seconds left on the clock, Nate Smith drained a three-pointer to give the Lakers a 23-22 lead at halftime.
Although the Lakers moved the ball effectively against the Flyers’ zone, gaining five more shot attempts, they were unable to open up ground against the Big Green because Waynflete made 6-of-8 foul shots while the home team never made a trip to the charity stripe over the first 16 minutes.
Midway through the third, Waynflete jumped ahead on two Belleau foul shots and an Abel Alemayo three-pointer.
Jackson Lesure closed the gap to 29-27 with a strong drive to the rim off a Piland pass.
But, Waynflete scored the next six points.
Again, Lesure was able to get inside against the Flyer defense and his quick trigger at the rim resulted in a bucket, a foul and a made free throw — the team’s first of the night with 4.3 seconds left in the quarter.
The Lakers turned the tide with a solid halfcourt trap in the fourth, resulting in four Flyer turnovers. LR capitalized by scoring seven straight points to tie the game at 37-37 with 6:01 left.
Belleau put the Flyers back up 39-37 with a jumpshot, but the Lakers took a lead they would never give up as Lesure found Smith, who canned a rainbow three-pointer with 4:02 left.
After a Flyer turnover (Lesure drew an offensive foul), the Lakers worked the clock with a triangular passing game between Lesure, Smith and Marcus DeVoe. Waynflete sent Smith to the foul line with 1:11 left with the Laker junior making 1-of-2.
Junior Tom Silk made a pair of clutch foul shots with one minute left in regulation to tie the game at 41-41, setting the stage for Hall’s heroics.

SURROUNDED — Waynflete's Milo Belleau tries to split a double-team by Lakers Nate Smith (left) and Marcus DeVoe.

In other action:
Lakers 71, Freeport 39. Against a winless Falcon team, the Lakers made an early statement by building a 36-18 halftime lead and cruised to a win behind a game-high 18 points from Jackson Lesure.
Quinn Piland netted 15, Tyler Walker chipped in 11 points and Marcus DeVoe added 10. Other scorers were: Nate Smith 5, Douglas Banks 3, Nick Hall 3, Nick Wandishin 3, Damon Knight 2 and Brandon Palmer 1.
Lakers 57, Gray-NG 39. In a role reversal, Lake Region started the game in a big hole, much like the Patriots found themselves during their visit to Naples a few weeks back.
Down 23-9, the Lakers did something the Patriots couldn’t do in the first meeting — they rallied for a win. The Lakers clawed back with a 16-3 run in the second quarter, and then held the Patriots to just 13 second half points.
Offensively, Quinn Piland tied for game-high scorer honors with 13 points. Jackson Lesure tossed in 12. Other scorers were: Marcus DeVoe 7, Tyler Walker 6, Nate Smith 5, Nick Wandishin 4, Brandon Palmer 4, Douglas Banks 3 and Nick Hall 3.
Next: The Lakers travel to Falmouth Friday for a 7 p.m. game, and then they are off until Friday, Jan. 23 when they welcome to Nutting Gym Greely at 7 p.m.