Staff photo / Preston Byers Warren G. Harding’s Davion Herron goes up for a layup during the Raiders’ regional semifinal loss to Massillon Perry on Thursday.

AKRON — Warren G. Harding’s season came to a shocking and climactic end Thursday evening when Massillon Perry’s Luke Wolf hit a miraculous, off-balance 3-pointer just before the final buzzer.

Wolf’s shot went in with a second to go in the Division II regional semifinal at Akron sunk the Raiders 52-51 and officially eliminated them from the postseason.

“This is the most painful [loss of my career],” Harding coach Keelyn Franklin said. “This is the most emotional, because I just saw the fire and I saw the fight and we didn’t complain. They just pushed through. We deserved to win that game, and Perry did also. It’s just one of those games where it sucks that somebody has to lose.”

Franklin had spent a few minutes talking with his team about their defensive gameplan, primarily in regards to Wolf, who had scored 28 points, moments before the eventual game-winner.

“When I saw [Wolf] taking the ball out, that’s why we called a timeout — to see what their alignment was going to be, so we could adjust,” Franklin said. “I knew with him taking the ball out that he would come back to the ball. So we wanted to switch everything and get out and try to deny him from catching it or push him out as far as we could.”

After inbounding the ball to Drake Jacobsen with 3.7 seconds remaining, Wolf, as Franklin predicted, immediately got the ball back. After catching it, Wolf immediately rose and fired a shot over the outstretched hand of Myles Miller. Despite the stellar plan and tight defense, Wolf’s shot swished through the net, giving Perry a one-point lead with one second left on the clock.

Franklin had used his final timeout to set up the Raiders’ defense, though, leaving him helpless to stop the clock before Perry’s win became official.

The buzzer sounded, and the Panthers rushed onto the floor to celebrate, while the Raiders were left stunned.

“They put themselves in position to go to a regional final,” Franklin said of his team, “and a prayer goes in. Sometimes that’s life; you give it your all, and it just doesn’t work out.”

The sting of Thursday’s loss may also, in part, be due to the feeling of one-sided officiating.

In the second half, the Panthers shot 14 free throws, including eight in the fourth quarter. Harding had three foul shots entering the fourth and took the majority of its free throws after Perry began intentionally fouling, which allowed the Raiders to finish with six free-throw attempts in the quarter and nine on the night.

“We had to play through a lot of contact that I thought wasn’t getting called [for us] that they called for them,” said Franklin, who fell to his hands and knees after a foul on Davion Herron in the fourth. “They lived at the free-throw line in that second half, and I think the game was called a lot closer in that second half.”

The free throws kept Perry, which had led by as many as 8 points in the second quarter, hanging around despite an offensive lull.

Wolf ended the Panthers’ field-goal drought — they had not made one in more than three minutes — with a 3-pointer very similar to his game-winner. With 33 seconds left, Wolf’s shot pulled Perry within one.

Jeremy Sampson, who had made both of his foul shots moments earlier to give the Raiders a 4-point lead, split his free throws with 24.5 seconds remaining.

A missed Wolf 3-pointer with under 10 seconds to go led to a mad scramble for the loose ball under the Panthers’ basket and an eventual jump ball, setting the stage for Wolf to break the Raiders’ hearts.

Thursday’s game was never separated by double digits, as the teams traded baskets for most of the first quarter, and despite Harding struggling offensively in the second quarter, the Panthers, who led by 6 at halftime, failed to pull away.

In the third quarter, Harding evened the game with a flurry of steals and fast-break points, including a few emphatic dunks.

“We were able to kind of lock in in that second half defensively and do some things to kind of get them out of rhythm,” Franklin said.

Senior star Chaz Coleman, who gave the Raiders energy with several dunks and 9 rebounds Thursday, led Harding with 18 points. Miller, who had 13 points, joined Coleman as the only Raiders to score in double figures.

With the loss, Harding ends the season with a 19-5 record.

“It’s one to remember,” Franklin said of the season. “First time we’ve been conference champs in maybe eight years; first regional regional trip in nine years; we had the conference player of the year; we had five kids make all-conference. This has been an amazing year. I told the guys, this has been the most fun that I’ve had coaching period, and I told them thank you.

“Obviously, you wish you could go a couple more games and we can get to Dayton, but sometimes that’s the way the cookie crumbles. You learn from it. You get stronger and tougher and you build resilience, and you move on with your life and you learn.”