One shot, hopefully the last shot. And it went right to Marmion’s Collin Wainscott. ‘That’s what he lives for.’

All those around him had faith Tuesday night, and so did Marmion’s Collin Wainscott.

The senior guard, a career 1,000-point scorer, had shot just 2 of 12 before coming out of a timeout with 21.7 seconds left in a Class 3A Burlington Central Sectional semifinal.

Even so, Wainscott was one of two options outlined by coach Joe Piekarz for what might be a decisive play with the Cadets trailing Crystal Lake South by a point.

“He drew it up for me to get the ball to Jabe Haith,” Wainscott said. “Jabe was covered, so I took the shot. Coach had said, ‘Be prepared to take it.’

“I hadn’t been shooting the ball well (Tuesday), but I made that big shot and coach had faith in me to do it all the time.”

Wainscott was right on time, converting a 3-pointer with 9.8 seconds left to spark Marmion to a 60-58 come-from-behind victory. Haith also scored a game-high 24 points.

The thrilling game didn’t end, however, until Haith got a hand on a last-second attempt from 3-point range by Cooper LePage, the Gators’ leading scorer.

The deflected shot fell to Wainscott as the Cadets (22-11) advance to play at 7 p.m. Friday for the sectional title against either Rockford Boylan (22-11) or Burlington Central (28-5).

Marmion hasn’t won a sectional championship since going downstate in 1976, also the last time the program had won a regional title.

This time, Wainscott helped make it happen.

“We had Jabe on the block and I said, ‘One of you two make a play,’” Piekarz said. “They were so concerned about Jabe, and rightfully so, they left Collin open.

“He makes those shots. That’s what he lives for — the opportunity to make big shots like that.”

It gave Wainscott seven points in the game, capping an 11-2 spurt by the Cadets in the final 1:40 that erased a seven-point deficit.

“The dude in the corner has to go to Collin or to me on that play, and he chose wrong,” Haith said. “He went to me. No one’s looking at the scoreboard. It’s a key move.

“Collin’s a shooter. It’s the next shot. You miss a shot, you’re gonna hit the next one. No matter how many points he had, he needed it the most, and Collin hit it.”

Wainscott’s scoring was down Tuesday but he had four steals and four assists.

Haith, a Lewis recruit, picked up the scoring slack to oust the Gators (25-9). He added four rebounds, two blocked shots, two assists and two steals.

Senior forward Trevon Roots contributed 19 points, nine rebounds and four blocked shots to the Cadets’ cause.

“They’ve got a lot of length and talent,” Crystal Lake South coach Matt LePage, whose son Cooper will play at Northern Michigan like he did.

Piekarz expected LePage to take the last shot but hoped Haith’s length would help.

“I’ve known Cooper and played with him (in AAU),” Haith said. “It was just a matchup of two guys out to be playing against each other at the next level.

“I have much respect for Cooper. He’s a great player, but I got a piece of it. I had to play good defense. It was one-on-one at that point just like training.”

The Gators, who shot free throws at a 77% clip this season, missed three in the final minute after going on a 13-0 run over 5:14 of the fourth in erasing a 49-43 deficit.

It took time for Marmion to solve Crystal Lake South’s zone in the second half.

“The entire team played off whoever was open,” Piekarz said. “We practice it a lot. Extend the game, and that’s what they did.”

Wainscott, meanwhile, passed on the credit.

“I shot that last shot, but that doesn’t mean I won the game for everyone,” Wainscott said. “Our team won that game for us.”