Pat McCormack made what his coach called “the worst possible play he could make.”

Then he redeemed himself.

McCormack committed a foul in the backcourt with his team clinging to a 54-53 lead with just 5.6 seconds remaining, but made two from the charity stripe after Milford’s Michael O’Loughlin missed his pair of shots, and Pembroke Academy snuck into the Class I semifinals with a 56-53 win.

Pembroke appeared in control of the game on Friday, March 6, taking a 51-43 lead with two minutes remaining. Milford battled back with multiple three-pointers in the final minute, including one that banked in, cutting the deficit to one.

With 8.3 seconds remaining, Taylor Vazquez rimmed out the front end of a one-in-one freethrow chance, leading to the McCormack foul.

“Our fate was in (O’Loughlin’s) hands,” said PA’s head coach, Matt Alosa, who called a timeout prior to the free-throw attempts. “We knew if he made both we were down one with enough time to drive to the basket. If he made one, we would have been even with the last shot and a chance to win it.”

After O’Loughlin misfired, McCormack was fouled and hit two of his own to give him 10 points and 14 rebounds and, more importantly, his team a three-point cushion. A desperation three-point attempt by Milford at the buzzer failed.

“We were fortunate enough to get out of there with a win,” said Alosa. “That last foul (by McCormack) had my heart rate up a bit, but he played an amazing game other than that one moment.”

Second-seeded Pembroke was scheduled to face number No. 4 Laconia on Wednesday, March 11. With a win, PA advances to the Class I title game against either Pelham or Portsmouth on Saturday, March 14, at the University of New Hampshire.

Tipoff is 2:30 p.m.

Milford jumped to a 14-3 lead in the opening period before Pembroke fought back to take a 27-26 halftime lead.

“I don’t think they were nervous,” said Alosa. “All it took was a possession or two and the next thing you know it’s 14-3. The most impressive part of the game was that they were able to come back from that.”

The Pembroke gymnasium was filled to capacity – and then some – with student sections from both schools standing throughout, creating an electric atmosphere.

“The last time I heard a gym that loud was when I was playing,” said Alosa. “There were times when you couldn’t hear the whistles. It was so loud you could feel it.”

Jon Grenier led all Pembroke scorers with 15 points, while Nick Porter, like McCormack, netted 10 points.

The game wasn’t without last-second drama, but the Spartans survived.

“When (O’Loughlin) was shooting those free throws, it was the first time we didn’t have control of that game in the second half,” said Alosa. “That was a lot of pressure. Thank goodness he missed them.”