Furious Wildcat Rally Falls Just Short [VIDEO]

Tim McCarthy's basketball IQ neatly extended Friday's game against visiting Burlington. But instead, the night ended with a second straight one-point loss for the Wilmington boys basketball team.

Clinging to a three-point lead with six seconds left, Burlington opted to foul the Wilmington senior guard before he could loft his attempt to knot the score. But McCarthy sensed the contact coming and shot the ball from halfcourt, hoping the whistle would come in the act of shooting.

Instead, referees ruled the foul on the floor. On the ensuing possession, McCarthy couldn't connect on a contested three and the Wildcats only could muster a lay up as time expired as they fell, 64-63.

Earlier in the week the .

"We had a tough week. Any time you lose two games by one point in a week, it's tough," said Wilmington head coach Joe Maiella. "You have to have short term memory in this league. You can't let those losses mount up. You have to keep on working. Hopefully we can get Tuesday night."

Based on the first half, it didn't seem like there would be any dramatics as Burlington built a 15-point first half lead. But the Wildcats slowly chipped away, thanks in part to McCarthy's strong play as he piled up a game high 22 points.

"Burlington took it to us in the first half," said Maiella. "But I think we responded at halftime, stepped up our energy in the second half and we took it them. We had them on their heels."

Wilmington had the ball with a chance to tie several times in the final minutes, but couldn't connect.

With six seconds left, James Wilkinson stuck a jump shot from just inches inside the three point line to pull the team within 62-61. Had it been less than a foot further back, the game would have been tied. Instead, Burlington hit a pair of free throws and set up the dramatics.

"The end of the game was what i'd call a chaotic nightmare," said Burlington head coach Tom Lyons. "We wanted to foul, but we wanted to keep it so he wasn't shooting. That last call really saved us."