By David Pan/Lynnwood Today editor

Meadowdale’s playoff hopes took a significant hit Tuesday night.

The Mavericks saw a fourth quarter lead slip through their hands as Shorewood executed down the stretch to pull out a 55-54 victory in a Wesco 3A South Division boys basketball game at Meadowdale High School.

The Mavericks fell to 3-7 in the league and 9-9 overall. Meadowdale, in last place in the five-team Wesco 3A South, fell two games behind Shorewood (5-5, 10-7) and Shorecrest (5-5, 11-6), who are now tied for third place. The Scots defeated second place Glacier Peak (7-3, 12-4), while Mountlake Terrace (8-2, 13-4) moved into first place after edging Marysville-Pilchuck. Only the top four teams advance to the district playoffs.

“We put ourselves in a position where we’re going to need some help playoff-wise,” said Meadowdale coach Andy Streit. “We’ve just got to continue to take care of ourselves and hope for the best.”

Meadowdale’s remaining games are against Glacier Peak, Marysville-Getchell and Shorecrest. The Scots also play Oak Harbor and Mountlake Terrace. Shorewood faces Mountlake Terrace, Glacier Peak and Stanwood.

“We both knew how big a game it was for league,” Streit said. “They out-executed us enough to get the win. They deserve all the credit coming in and getting the win.”

Meadowdale trailed 28-23 at halftime but tied the score at 38 as the teams headed for the fourth quarter. The Mavericks briefly held a 43-41 lead early in the period but two free throws by Shorewood tied the score. In the fourth quarter, the Thunderbirds made 10 of 14 free throws, while Meadowdale only attempted five free throws, making only two of them.

The game was tied two more times with the final time at 49 with 1:40 left. Brandon Mar scored a basket and Taylor Freeman made two free throws to give Shorewood a 53-49 advantage with 32.7 seconds to go. Meadowdale’s Jacob Perkins then cut the lead to 53-51 with a basket at the 20.3-second mark.

Shorewood then converted on 2 of 4 free throws, while the Mavericks weren’t able to find the net until Griffin Over hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Meadowdale has some defensive lapses in the second quarter that allowed Shorewood to take the halftime lead but then the Mavericks rebounded in the second half, Streit noted.

“We came out in the second half and gave a lot more effort,” Streit said. “I was proud of the way our guys battled. We didn’t do enough things right to win. They did.”

Over scored 14 points and Barrett Carlow added 13 points. Charlie White had 11 points and 10 rebounds. Perkins scored 10 points and grabbed 8 rebounds.

Shorewood was led by Freeman, who scored 18 points. Sam Boone and Mar each added 10 points.

Meadowdale travels to Glacier Peak for a 7:15 p.m., game on Friday, Jan. 31.