A play Miramar calls ''Red'' added even more heartache to a Boyd Anderson boys' basketball team that just cant shake its struggles in the postseason.

Xavier Martin hit a turnaround jumper with 5.2 seconds left as host Miramar stunned second-ranked Boyd Anderson 54-53 in the Class 6A quarterfinals Thursday.

Boyd Anderson was poised to steal the victory despite a horrid shooting performance. Two free throws by senior guard Cedric Flood-Smith gave Boyd Anderson a 53-52 lead with 18.4 seconds left.

But Miramar (18-8) worked the ball to halfcourt, and coach Kenneth Kelly called a timeout to set up ''red,'' an isolation play that Martin has thrived on all season.

'Coach called a timeout and said, `Zay, I need you to step up for me, make this last bucket for me,' '' Martin said. 'I said, `I got you, Coach.' I played it calm, looked at the clock; I knew what I had to do. You can't rush it. . . . It's my favorite play.''

Miramar will remain home for a regional semifinal matchup against Blanche Ely on Tuesday and try to avenge a 69-65 loss to the Tigers in the season-opener.

Since dropping four of five games during a two week stretch in January, the Patriots have reeled off five straight victories to re-emerge as state contenders.

Martin , who has carried the Patriots with a string of 30-plus point performances, deferred to the hot-shooting senior swingman Kareem Roach (19 points) for most of the game before his off-balance 15-footer sent shockwaves throughout the state.

Miramar knew they had to defend the three-point shooting of the Cobras’ big three - Bryan Bynes, Martavious Irving and Cedric Flood-Smith to win and they did. The Cobras, who have used the three-point shot to break open games all season, finished 1 of 11 from beyond the arc and only 17 of 61 overall.

"For three days we just worked on contesting shots," Kelly said. "They are so good that you want to make sure every shot is difficult. Once you let them get in rhythm, all of a sudden they are a tough team to beat."

Martin's biggest shot of his career will add fuel to the notion that Boyd Anderson (25-3) is unable to carry its regular-season success into the postseason.

Last year, it entered the state final against Miami Norland ranked No. 1 in the state and No. 19 nationally but blew a 14-point second-quarter lead and lost. This season, after rising to as high as No. 14 in the ESPN Rise rankings, Boyd Anderson looked well on its way to a return trip to Lakeland and possibly winning it all.

The first sign of trouble was a mystifying loss on Jan. 20 to Cypress Bay, which played without arguably its best player. Then, after blowing out rival Blanche Ely in their first two matchups, Boyd Anderson ended up losing by four to the Tigers in the District 11-6A final last Saturday.

There will be a strong sentiment that Boyd Anderson might have been looking ahead to a rematch with Blanche Ely in the regional semifinals next Tuesday, but Cobras coach Eugene Richardson wasn't buying it.

''We really didn't look past this game,'' Richardson said. ``We knew Miramar was playing good basketball and it was going to be tough. We looked at some things. We were prepared. The fire we normally have on defense was not there tonight.''

Realizing they had just pulled off the biggest upset in school history, Miramar players and coaches jumped around in jubilation as the final buzzer sounded. On the other sideline, Cobras players, coaches and fans weren’t ready to face the harsh reality that a stellar 55-5 record in the past two seasons didn't bring a state title. While the Patriots whooped it up at center court, some Cobras coaches and players stood in place, glancing up at the scoreboard, hoping that somehow the score was wrong or a few more seconds would be added.

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