It was chaos after the final buzzer.

Both teams were celebrating as if they had won the game.

Finally, one of the officials gave a final signal at mid court.

A non-league boys basketball showdown with Lehighton hosting Pleasant Valley on Monday left everyone who witnessed it in disbelief.

The Indians looked like they had the game won, but a last-second buzzer beater from William Breuer propelled the Bears to a shocking 65-64 victory for their first win of the season.

Nothing seemed to indicate this game would come down to the wire, especially with the Tribe’s Talin Fairchild launching four straight threes in the first quarter.

But PV pulled within 31-25 at the half — led by Sebastian Sacci’s 14 points — only to see Lehighton extend the lead to 48-36 lead in the third, as Blake Roberts consistently drove to the basket for eight points in the quarter.

Down by 12, the Bears needed something to turn things around, and head coach Joe Berezwick provided that with a pep-talk about rebounding.

“I just wanted to get emotional with my kids there because Lehighton came out really, really well shooting the lights out,” said Berezwick. “We just wanted to emphasize ‘If we don’t rebound the basketball, it presents those scrambles (for them to) kick it out for three-point shots.’ So we wanted to make sure we were rebounding and getting those boards.”

At that point of the game, the Indians held a 7-2 edge in offensive rebounds. From that moment onward, it was 6-0 for Pleasant Valley.

“We’ve just been practicing rebounding and letting it show in games,” said Jake Loch. “Our coach always says rebounds win games. So you’ve got to go out there and do the dirty work and get second-chance points as many times as you can.”

What was once a 12-point deficit quickly became a five-point Bears lead (61-56) after a 14-3 run in the fourth quarter, and a 25-8 spurt after Berezwick’s pep-talk. Loch led the charge with 14 second-half points, and finished with 16 overall.

Consequently for Lehighton, it found itself struggling to rebound the ball and generate offense, which head coach Trevor Miller could sense on his bench.

“We couldn’t get any stops, and unfortunately, when you give a team like that multiple opportunities, you’re going to put yourself in a tough situation,” he said. “I thought we did a decent job of defending the first shot, but we couldn’t get a rebound to save our life. Rebounding’s a want-to. And I think you saw they wanted it more than we did.”

The Indians benefited with PV struggling to hit foul shots and made it a one-score game. Then with roughly 20 seconds left, Cole Dietz, who had been marked defensively all game long by Jaxson Haines, drained a go-ahead three for a 64-63 lead.

But with the clock winding down under five seconds, Loch put up a jumper that was short and left the Tribe fans, players and coaches believing that they had won.

However, with just enough time still left on the clock, Breuer jumped up for the rebound and put up a clutch mid-air reverse layup that fell through the hoop, leading to the Bears erupting in celebration.

“I just got back on offense, and I knew our guard was going to take that shot, so I was just getting ready to get that board,” Breuer said about his game-winning shot. “When I saw it was a miss, I quickly got the board and put it up.

“I don’t think rebounding has much skill; it’s more within yourself. If you have the heart to go do it, you could do it. It’s just positioning, and I was fortunate enough to be in the right position, right time.”

The wild scene with both teams celebrating lasted for what felt like an eternity for everyone in the gym before one official at mid court signaled to both teams that the basket was good.

PV players broke out in cheers, while Lehighton looked distraught.

“Right now we’re not taking care of the business that we need to,” said Miller. “It’s something that, quite frankly, I’m pretty shocked at with this group, but right now I don’t have an answer to tell you what exactly is wrong. But at the end of the day, we have to figure that out.”

In contrast to Lehighton’s gut-wrenching defeat, the jubilant victory has the Bears entering the Christmas break on a high note both for the team and coach Berezwick, who picked up his first coaching victory.

“When we went down in the third quarter, we knew we had to flip the switch, and when we started coming back, we were hitting shots,” said Haines who tied the game at 56 with a three.

“This is huge,” said Loch. “A game like this can really turn your season around, and we worked so hard for a game like this. Now we just have to keep it rolling for the second half of the season.”

STAT LINE ... Sacci ended with a team-high 18 points for the Bears, while Loch ended with 16. Breuer juts missed a double-double, scoring 11 points and collecting nine rebounds. Lehighton’s Fairchild led all scorers with 21 points, which came on seven threes. Roberts added 19, while Dietz chipped in with 13.

WIN NO. 1 ... Ironically, Berezwick’s first win came on the same floor where he previously coached. The first-year mentor was an assistant with his dad when he was the head coach of the Indians girls team.

TIME OFF … Pleasant Valley will return to action on Saturday to host Dallas. Lehighton does not resume action until Jan. 2 at Northern Lehigh.

PLEASANT VALLEY

Loch 3-8-9-16, Haines 4-0-2-11, Dorshimer 0-0-2-0, Solt 3-0-0-9, Wheeler 0-0-0-0, Sacci 7-2-2-18, Breuer 5-1-3-11. TOTALS: 22-11-18-65.

LEHIGHTON

McCarroll 0-0-0-0, Solt 2-0-0-5, White 0-0-0-0, Meek 2-2-3-6, Fairchild 7-0-0-21, Roberts 9-0-2-19, Blair 0-0-0-0, Dietz 4-3-3-13. TOTALS: 24-5-8-64.

Pleasant Valley 14 11 22 18 - 65

Lehighton 21 10 22 11 - 64

Three-pointers: Pleasant Valley - Haines 3, Solt 3, Loch 2, Sacci 2; Lehighton - Fairchild 7, Dietz 2, Solt 1, Roberts 1.

Records: Pleasant Valley (1-7); Lehighton (5-5).