It worked in football, so why not try it in basketball, Wilmington coach Mike Jeckavitch reasoned.

A baseball pass from football quarterback Reese Bender to his favorite target on the field, Spencer DeMedal, resulted in a game-winning basket and a 64-63 District 10, Section 3-2A victory for Wilmington against visiting Lakeview on Tuesday night.

The game was tied 61-61 and the Sailors had the ball. A Lakeview player was fouled while taking a 3-point shot with .9 seconds left, resulting in three free throws. He made the first, missed the second and made the third, giving the Sailors at 63-61 advantage.

After a Wilmington timeout, Reese Bender took the ball out of bounds and heaved it down the floor to a waiting DeMedal, who took one quick dribble from 30 feet away and fired up the ball as time expired. The ball banked to the rim, rolled around several times and went in.

“Everybody stormed the court,” Jeckavitch said. “It was a great win on senior night. We’ve gotten beaten on similar shots, so it was kind of nice to get the win that way.

“They worked the play that we drew up perfectly,” he added. “Spencer caught the ball, took a quick dribble to see where he was at and shot it. You knew that Spencer had to take the shot and who better to throw it to him than Reese. They did it so many times during the football season.”

DeMedal led the Greyhounds with 22 points, 10 rebounds, six blocks and six assists.

Wilmington ends the regular season at 11-3 in the region, 15-7 overall. The ‘Hounds have a bye for the first round of the playoffs and will take the court Feb. 24 at a time and site to be determined.