Waterford’s Gavin Brooker defends in the post during the Wildcats’ 61-58 win over Shenandoah on Tuesday from the Harry Cooper Annex. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

WATERFORD — The ideal inbounds pass followed by the perfect shot.

Alec Johnson’s shot from just beyond half court as time expired found all net and lifted the Waterford boys basketball team to a 61-58 win over Shenandoah Tuesday night at Harry W. Cooper Annex.

Johnson’s fifth and final 3-pointer of the game capped an emotional ending for a Wildcat team which trailed by as many as 12 points in the second half.

Waterford improved to 3-1 under Waterford first-year coach D.J. Cunningham and marked his first home win since taking over the program.

“I don’t know how long that ball was in the air, but it seemed like 10 seconds,” Cunningham said. “When it hit, I thought did it really go in or just hit the net? Then everybody is going crazy and reality set in.

“We actually had one more pass we wanted made.”

Johnson, who finished with a team-high 20 points, discussed with his teammates and coaching staff during the Wildcats’ final timeout that 2.4 seconds wasn’t enough time to make a second pass.

Needing to go the length of the court, Waterford put the ball in the hands of Gaibe Ponchak to inbounds the ball from underneath the Shenandoah hoop.

Told he could run the baseline, Ponchak too a few steps one way then reversed direction to find Johnson, who dribbled down the right side of the court near the scorer’s table.

His running jumper left his hands just before he reached the mid-court line.

“During the timeout, I asked one of my teammates how much time was left,” Johnson said. He said 2.4. I said I don’t know if I have enough time make another pass for us to get a shot off. I figured I might as well let it fly and I let it fly. It went right in.

“Gaibe gave me the ball in the right spot. The ball was slick all game and he still got it right where I wanted it. I was looking at the shot and it was dead-on. If the power is right, that’s going in. And sure enough it went in. It’s so surreal. It was like a dream.”

The two teams combined for 18 3-pointers, including five from Shenandoah senior Grant Stottsberry, who also scored 20 points. Just as they did at the outset of the game, the Zeps came out with the hot hand in the second half. They erased a 23-22 halftime deficit and outscored the Wildcats 17-4 in the first five minutes of the third quarter.

Following a technical on the Waterford bench and the two Shenandoah free throws which ensued, the Wildcats appeared backed into a corner down 39-27.

The deficit sat at 11 with just under a minute remaining in the period. Johnson’s bucket with five seconds showing carried over into the fourth quarter as the Wildcats turned on the heat by outscoring the Zeps 17-3 in the opening four minutes.

Two Wildcat starters (Jarrett Armstrong and Chip Adams) both had four personal fouls by the 5:47 mark, but both managed to stay on the floor for the duration. Adams finished with 15 points, while Armstrong scored 10 of his 14 points after intermission.

“We did some growing up tonight,” Cunningham said. “We found it in the last quarter of the game, found a little something about ourselves. We dug deep and gritted this one out.

“Do I want to win every ballgame like that? No. But we found a way and that’s what matters.”

Despite trailing 54-48 with just less than three minutes left in regulation, Shenandoah didn’t go away. Carsten Smith scored consecutive buckets, including a layup off a steal to cut the gap to 56-54. Smith’s two free throws at 47 seconds squared the game at 56.

Johnson’s two free throws at 36 seconds were countered by Smith’s layup at four seconds. Smith scored eight of his 17 points in the fourth quarter.

Waterford called its second-to-last timeout at 2.4 seconds. Coach Cunningham didn’t feel trying to get the possession closer with their final timeout would help the cause, so the Wildcats drew up a play — using one pass and not two — that will surely make the playbook.

“Shenandoah shot super well — seemed like every time you looked, it was going in,” Johnson said. “We never stopped fighting — Jarrett and Chip played smart and didn’t foul out.

“This win is for everyone in (the gym) who came out tonight. We thank them. That’s who we did it for.”