LAWRENCE — The odds were shrinking by the second.

Its slim lead turned into a nine-point deficit early in the fourth quarter. Its head coach, Paul Connolly, wasn’t on the sidelines for personal reasons. No. 5 Central Catholic’s Javi Lopez (37 points, 8 rebounds) had erupted all night, and his teammates had just started scoring consistently around him.

But after interim coach Tom Donnellan called timeout with 5:15 left, the No. 3 Newton North boys basketball team used elite team defense and clutch scoring for a massive run to pull off a 57-54 nonleague win over the Raiders on Tuesday night in a battle of Div. 1 heavyweights.

Star senior Teagan Swint (19 points, 12 rebounds, four assists, four blocks, two steals) posted eight points, three blocks, three rebounds, a steal and an assist out of the timeout to anchor a 16-4 run and close out the win.

“We were just really proud of our guys for sticking together,” said assistant coach Rob Greenfield. “Being down nine, this team is really, really good that we just played. To be down nine on the road, and to stick together and keep battling, we were really, really proud of our guys, really happy with our guys for that.”

“We just had to keep fighting,” Swint added. “It kind of just shows the character of our team to keep fighting through that (deficit) and keep playing as hard as we could.”

Nicholas Spinelli’s and-one layup with 1:25 left was essentially the game-winner, giving Newton North a 55-54 lead fresh off one of Swint’s blocks on the other end. After the teams traded defensive stops, Spinelli took on Lopez with 27.3 seconds left and forced him into a travel on a game-winning attempt with 4.6 seconds to go.

Spinelli took the inbound with 3.4 seconds left, and his two free throws gave Newton North the 57-54 lead. All five of his points came in the final 1:25 of play.

“We were really happy for (Spinelli), stepping up in a big spot there,” Greenfield said.

After the clutch free throws, Swint blocked a desperation fadeaway 3-pointer from Lopez in the corner to seal the game. It was just one of the many examples of the team’s stellar defensive play, smothering Lopez after his 35th point gave Central Catholic a 50-41 lead with 5:15 to go.

Before Newton North’s timeout, the Raiders were on a 17-4 run to wipe away the Tigers’ 37-33 lead with just over two minutes left in the third quarter.

“Late in the game, you kind of need to start generating turnovers,” Swint said. “You’ve got to take some chances, leave your feet for blocks or jump out for steals. We were fortunate to kind of get those (stops) at the end.”

“It was really a team effort on the defensive end because guys had to switch out on (Lopez),” Greenfield added. “He puts a lot of pressure on all five guys, so we were really proud of our team defense.”

Mathaios Stamm had 12 of his 14 points in the second half for the Tigers, while Jake Lyons (seven points, three assists) was a clutch playmaker. Bryson Mercedes (six points, five rebounds) and Luke Washek (five points) made impactful contributions as well.