La Salle Prep boys basketball narrowly survived to capture its first boys basketball championship in 39 years in a chaotic 57-56 victory over defending champion Summit on Saturday night. And the No. 9 Falcons (21-8) did it in probably the longest and gut-wrenching nine seconds of basketball. La Salle senior Paul Skoro was the center of attention with an offensive foul to start and a game-winning free throw to win the Class 5A championship at Linfield. With nine seconds left, Skoro committed an off-ball foul on an inbounds play to give Summit a chance to win it all with his team holding a 56-55 lead. But he would get a shot at redemption after Summit’s Will Manfredi split a pair of free throws with nearly three seconds left and the score tied 56-all. The senior grabbed the inbounds pass and streaked down the floor to attempt a shot, only to be fouled on the shot by Summit’s Ryder Grieb, who was trying to foul on the ground with two seconds left. Quickly, Skoro found himself in a pressure-packed situation with three free throws and a chance to win it all. And after having the first one rim out, he sank the second one before purposefully missing the third to let time drain on Summit. “That sequence reminded me of the ESPN flowchart that shows the 99% win probability,” Skoro said after finishing with 11 points, five assists and four rebounds. “It was a lot of flip-flopping. There were a lot of emotions, but you just got to block out that pressure and remember how hard you’ve worked to get that.” And that long moment at the free throw line is something that he relishes and practiced for all season. “I was able to block everything out with just me and the rim,” he said. “But after the second free throw, that’s when it hit me. I was like, ‘What do I do now? Do I make it or miss it?’ He told me to miss it, and I feel like I executed that pretty well.” Skoro’s combination of unrattled nerves and short-term memory is what La Salle coach Sean Kelly raved about after the game and was proud to see his senior finish out such a special sequence. “The guy will do anything it takes to win, he just loves to win,” Kelly said. “He runs the show, and tonight, he really did. I mean, he deserves all the credit in the world. He’s amazing.” And on the other side, Summit head coach Joe Wells was content with the outcome and how his team performed even with the controversial call on Grieb in the final seconds. The first-year Storm coach referenced the dramatic Mac Bledsoe alley-oop winner from last year’s title game and knows that basketball can change with a single play along with tough calls by the referees being a necessary part of it as well. ”We’ve been on both sides of them,” Wells said. “It was a very bizarre ending, but, you know, that’s how the basketball gods wanted it to happen, and that’s how it happened. So I live with our effort, and I live with what our guys have done all year long.” He added: “The refs had a tough night too. Some of us have tough nights, some teams have tough nights, think the refs might have had an off night too.” And despite the bizarre ending, La Salle had an improbable Cinderella run by beating top-seeded Caldera, ousting Northwest Oregon Conference rival Wilsonville — ending the Wildcats’ streak of eight-straight title appearances — and ousted the defending champions. Kelly was still stunned after the game by hearing about the gauntlet his Falcons passed through, especially showing some moxie left after defeating Wilsonville. “I was a little nervous about today, and especially with Summit,” he said, “Because those guys do an incredible job, and they won it last year, and they’re defending state champs. I knew this was going to be tricky, but our guys just stayed with it on the board.” The Falcons definitely showed no wear in the first half by building a 15-point lead midway through the second as Vance Sheffield had 15 points, four rebounds and three steals in the first half. Riggy Khyungra also finished with 13 points and three assists to pace the way, while Mason Mueller added 10 points. Khyungra was impressed with how Scheffield — who won his first basketball title to go along with two Class 5A soccer championships — and the rest of the Falcons got out of the gate fast and put the pressure on Summit for the rest of the game. “I think just coming out strong in this game was really important,” he said. “Summit is a good defensive team, they play pack line defense. It’s very aggressive. So I’m just glad that we came out and did what we had to do.” And with the dominant start and landing the shaky end, Kelly noted how lucky he was to do it with his son who is part of a program that reminds him of his days coaching collegiate basketball at Concordia. “I just thank my family for sticking with me in my career,” Kelly said. “My sons just work incredibly hard at their craft, and they do such a great job. So this does mean a lot for everyone involved, but especially our families that give so much He added: “La Salle is a special place. Not a lot of people really know about it, we’re 600 and some odd students. We are probably the smallest 5A school. It really does feel like a college, an intimate college, where you know you matter as a person and you leave there as a better person.” Subscribe to the High School Sports+ newsletter Sign up here to get exclusive news and insights from high school sports editor Nik Streng.