The host Seneca boys basketball team trailed Sandwich by six points with just over three minutes to play in Saturday’s contest that was part of the MLK Shootout.

Then following a Zeb Maxwell layup, Brayden Simek knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to give Seneca the lead for good - part of a game-ending 14-0 run - in a 64-56 victory and help the home team snapped a three-game losing streak.

Simek led Seneca with 20 points, including hitting 6 of 8 from long range, and grabbed five rebounds.

“I feel like we played a really good game defensively and that carried over to having confidence on offense,” Simek said. Coach (Nathaniel) Meiss had written T.T.S. on the board before the game - Team, Teammates, Self. He talked about putting the team first in our play and then being there for our teammates in every situation. I thought we played well as a team, and even though we were down in the fourth quarter, we just kept working hard.

“My teammates did a great job of getting the ball to me for open shots all game, so all the credit goes to them. I’m just happy we could get back in the win column after a tough last three games.”

After Simek, Cam Shriey had 16 points, four rebounds, two assists and five steals, Maxwell 15 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, and Brady Sheedy 11 points, five rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals.

Seneca (8-10) finished hitting 22 of 49 (45%) from the floor, including 7 of 10 in the final eight minutes, and held a 30-28 advantage in rebounds. The Irish assisted on 15 of their 22 field goals.

“I’m most proud of just the effort the guys gave tonight, it was very, very good,” Meiss said. “I feel like if we’d played with that effort the past three games our week may be flipped and we’d be talking about winning a fourth in a row. We made some mistakes tonight, but the key was they were from trying too hard at times. We also had a short memory after mistakes, let them go and got back to just playing basketball.

“The T.T.S. on the board was another attempt to reach them, just a reminder that if they play and stick together, we can be a pretty good basketball team. The responded and also did a great job of doing the things we told them were going to be important on both ends of the floor.”

Sandwich led 18-16 after the opening quarter, 32-31 at halftime and 49-43 heading to the fourth.

Griffin Somlock - who led the Indians with a game-high 25 points, including seven 3-pointers - hit a pair of free throws, scored on a drive and swished a trey in the opening four minutes of the final stanza to help his team hold a 56-50 lead before the Seneca uprising.

Sandwich (5-15) - which shot 21 of 49 (43%) for the game, but just 2 of 12 in the fourth - also received 12 points and five assists from Nick Michalek and nine points from Brady Behringer.

“We’ve talked as a team about closing out games and we just haven’t been able to find ways to win this season,” Sandwich coach Matt Chalfin said. “Today we had a six-point lead with about three minutes to go and just made way too many mistakes down the stretch. We got into a mode in the fourth quarter where we thought we had to go a hundred miles an hour instead of being patient.

“Credit Simek, he hit shots all game long and the two there late in the fourth were big for them. We just weren’t able to keep them from scoring while also not being able to score in the final minutes. They turned up the pressure, and we turned the ball a few times and took a few bad shots as well. They capitalized on every opportunity we gave them in the final three minutes.”

Seneca is back in action on Tuesday when it hosts Newark. Sandwich is off until Wednesday when Woodstock North comes to town for a Kishwaukee River Conference game.