Alvirne’s Ulysses Kangar shoots over Trinity’s Connor Bishop in Saturday’s Division I quarterfinal in Manchester. (Photo by Dan Attorri)

MANCHESTER – In a close game, every single possession counts. Saturday’s quarterfinal came down to a single possession.

The Broncos were one play away from heading to the Final Four, a place the Alvirne boys’ basketball team hasn’t been to since 2011. But Trinity senior guard Jamar Gregory-Alleyne buried a floater from near the free throw line with six seconds left in overtime, lifting the No. 3 Pioneers (17-3) to a 62-60 victory over the No. 6 Broncos (13-7) in Saturday’s Division I quarter.

“These guys competed their asses off,” first-year head coach and former Bronco Sam Bonney-Liles said. “I’m so proud of them. At the beginning of the year nobody thought we’d be here. Nobody thought we’d be one possession away from the final four.”

Alvirne was oh-so-close to reaching it. The Pioneers took a 7-2 lead to open the game, but four different Broncos connected on shots from 3-point range to give Alvirne a 14-13 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The Broncos kept the Pioneers off the scoreboard for nearly six minutes of the second quarter until Gregory-Alleyne finally connected on a jumper with 2:34 left in the half. But sophomore guard Cam St. Clair (13 points) scored one of his three triples and junior forward Ulysses Kangar (14 points) had some pretty finishes around the rim to extend Alvirne’s lead to 30-22 at halftime.

Trinity senior forward Connor Cote scored six of his 10 points in the third quarter, and junior forward Jordan Torres (17 points) and junior guard Collin Charbonneau (14 points) got the Pioneers back in the game, but the Broncos still held a 48-46 lead heading into the fourth.

Torres tied the game with two minutes left in regulation, but even then Alvirne went ahead – twice – taking 53-48 and 55-50 leads in the frame. But Charbonneau buried a 3 with 2:20 left and Cote’s layup with 1:02 on the block tied the game 55-55.

Both teams had chances to finish the game in regulation. Torres stole the ball near midcourt with nothing but open floor in front of him with 11.7 seconds left, but the referees called a foul on Torres. The Broncos had the ball, which Torres then knocked out of bounds with 8.7 seconds left, but the officials determined that the ball had gone off an Alvirne hand.

Senior forward Garrett Hall led the Broncos with 18 points and went 5-for-6 from the free throw line, accounting for all of Alvirne’s points in OT, and Hall also had a monster game defensively with four blocks, three steals and several rebounds. His clutch shooting gave Alvirne a 58-55 lead with 2:03 left and tied the game at 60 with 46.6 seconds remaining, but Gregory-Alleyne’s floater gave Trinity the last word, sending the home fans into a frenzy.

Both teams made mistakes, Alvirne just happened to make more later, ending what was still an excellent season for the Broncos and a more-than enjoyable inaugural season for coach Bonney-Liles.

“We shot ourselves in the foot. It came down to turnovers that made the difference,” Bonney-Liles said. “These guys have ruined coaching for me in the best way possible. From the moment I took over they’ve worked hard. They’re so close. There’s no BS. Just basketball. They’re a great group, I’m so proud of them.”