Things got a little nerve-racking for Freedom boys basketball head coach Joe Stellato and his Patriots during the fourth quarter of Saturday's District 11 4A quarterfinals matchup against Easton at William Allen High School's Sewards Gym.

The Patriots saw a nine-point lead late in the third quarter disappear as the Red Rovers went on a 9-0 run themselves to tie it with 4:38 to play in the fourth. The Patriots failed to get on the scoreboard for nearly six minutes in that fourth quarter, setting up for a dramatic finish.

That's when Nyreef Jackson hit arguably one of the biggest shots of his career a fadeaway jumper from the top of the key over the outstretched arms of the Red Rover defense that put the Patriots up 34-32 with 2:21 to play. That bucket sparked an 8-0 run to close out the game, and the Patriots advanced with a 40-32 win and will play Stroudsburg in the semifinals.

"I was starting to get very concerned," said Stellato. "I really didn't have too many answers. I kept trying to push the buttons and things just weren't working."

Jackson had a team-high 14 points to go along with 10 rebounds for the Patriots. But none came at a bigger moment than that jumper in the fourth, the Patriots' only field goal in that quarter.

"It was just a big shot for us to get the lead," said Jackson. "It was a tough shot because it was kind of a fadeaway; but I just needed myself to get some room from the defender because he was playing tough defense."

"It's got to be the biggest shot of his life," said Stellato. "That really carried us into a situation where we could hold the ball. But our defensive carried us the whole game. Even when we went up two we had to get a stop. And we got a stop."

After scoring just 14 points in the first half, the Patriots used an 18-point third quarter to regain momentum. They scored the first seven points of that third quarter and raced out to a 21-15 lead. Derike Chiclana had six points in that third quarter, while Jackson and David Williams each added five.

"Just to come out and have a good tempo to the half because the first half was kind of sluggish," said Jackson. "So he wanted us to come out and set the tone in the second half."

Neither team led by more than five points in the first half, and that came in the opening moments as Freedom held a 5-0 advantage.

Both teams struggled from the field in the opening half and Easton held a one-point advantage at the break. Freedom shot 6-23 (26%), while Easton made just six of their 21 (29%) attempts in the first half.

"It's two good defensive teams going at it," said Stellato. "We both struggled offensively but it was because the other teams played great defense. And that's the kind of game you're going to get against Easton."

Chiclana added 12 and seven rebounds and Nigel Long added seven, including four free throws in the final 40 seconds.

Their semifinal contest against Stroudsburg is set for Wednesday night at Easton Middle School. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.