WOODSFIELD — Colton Lawrence’s shot from a spot between the top of the 3-point arc and halfcourt rimmed in and out as the horn sounded Tuesday night and Monroe Central held on for a 46-44 victory against River in another classic installment of the Monroe County boys’ basketball rivalry.

As Lawrence pounded the floor of Junior Winland Court in disgust, the Seminoles escaped with their second 2-point triumph against the Pilots this season and a sweep of the season series.

Monroe Central (11-8) led by nine with about a minute left, but watched River (6-12) feverishly claw its way back in the closing seconds behind freshman Ty Long, who finished with a game-high 25 points.

“We had some layups we missed toward they end and we had some free throws we missed toward the end,” Seminoles head coach Jon Perkins said. “And credit to River. They were cashing in. They kept playing hard until the very end.

“We’re lucky to get out with a win. The Basketball Gods were smiling.”

Down 45-36, Long muscled his way in for a layup and was fouled. He missed the free throw, but the Pilots’ deficit dwindled to 45-38.

Moments later, Long, a freshman, grabbed an offensive rebound and put it back up and in with 23 seconds left making the score 45-40.

Talin Babcock was fouled with 16.5 ticks left and made one of two at the stripe as the Seminoles went back up six. But Long responded quickly with a layup making the score 46-42 with 10.5 left.

Monroe Central was called for a 5-second violation trying to get the ball inbounds, and Long pounced. He scored again, this time with 5.8 left, making the reading 46-44.

Babcock, who finished with 10 points, was sent to the line for two with 5.1 left, but missed both attempts. On the second miss, Lawrence grabbed the carom and raced down the middle of the court, past halfcourt and put up a shot at about the volleyball line uncontested as the capacity crowd held its breath.

It didn’t fall, but River head coach Mark Romick thought it had a chance.

“He was gonna be the trailer on the play anyway, so he got the look,” he explained. “There was nobody in his face. It was a good look.

“But we shot ourselves in the foot continuously to put ourselves in that position. But you know? I’ll give my kids credit. We hustled our butts off in the second half. We played defense. We didn’t shoot it very well, but I thought we hung in there and did everything we needed to do to get back in the game and give ourselves a chance to win it.”

The Seminoles broke the game open in with a 17-4 second quarter that snapped a 17-all tie included a 10-0 run to end it. Auston Hogue scored four of his team-high 11 points during the surge.

“I told them at halftime we weren’t a team,” Romick said. “When we get behind we become individuals and we just start firing up shots. I ran five different sets, but it doesn’t matter if you’re not willing to be patient.

“But when we came out in the third that’s what we did. We were patient. We moved the ball. We took care of it.”

As a result, the Pilots trimmed its margin to seven.

“I told (my players) the first few minutes of the third would dictate how the game would go,” Perkins said.

From there, the Seminoles maintained their lead until River’s late surge.

Both teams return to action Friday, both at home. The Seminoles welcome Caldwell, while the Pilots play host to hot Union Local.