Midway through the fourth quarter Wednesday, the score was tied for the eighth time between Lathrop and Johansen before the visiting Vikings scored 15 of the game’s final 19 points to escape Greg Leland Gymnasium with a 58-47 Western Athletic Conference boys basketball win.

“They outscored us 21-9 in the fourth quarter,” Spartans coach Robin Hong said. “Their best player (Ivan Martinez) had three 3-pointers, and 13 points total in that quarter. We were second-guessing the switches, and that gave them too much space, and they took advantage of it. He’s an unconscious shooter, and he’s going to pull it if he has a little bit of space.

“That was really the difference. We were 3-for-19 with 3-pointers and when we are not shooting, we have to adjust our game to continue to work the ball and get the shots. We can very well shoot the ball, but when we are not making our shots, which is bound to happen in basketball, we have to adjust our offense, and I feel it was too stagnant.”

Martinez scored all of his game-leading 17 points in the second half.

“It was Ivan (Martinez),” Johansen coach Ivan Salazar said. “He gets going in the second half.”

Until that fourth-quarter blitz, the Vikings (8-3 WAC, 17-8 overall) held the biggest lead of the night at 33-27 in the third quarter. An 8-0 run by Lathrop (9-2, 16-8) with four points by Kam Bisla (eight points, four rebounds, three steals, two blocks, rebound) and back-to-back steals by Bryan Gamboa (12 points) gave the Spartans a 35-33 lead. They would lead one more time 38-37 on a buzzer beater by Nick Arceo (seven points, eight rebounds, four assists) at the end of the third quarter.

Justin Neal led Lathrop with 14 points.

The Spartans travel to Livingston on Friday night at 7.

Junior varsity

Lathrop 55, Johansen 45

Reggie Thompson notched a double-double for the Spartans with 20 points and 11 rebounds.

Lathrop’s Josh Tulalele added 11 points and four rebounds.