In a boys basketball game showcasing each team’s biggest stars, it was the smallest — and most shy — person on the court Friday night at Seabury High whose actions shined the brightest for Englewood Christian.

Siripol Luanaguiriyasira, who had taken just one shot but played the majority of the game, found himself at the free-throw line for a one-and-one with just 13 seconds remaining.

Luanaguiriyasira swished the first free throw, prompting him to jump up and down in excitement. After he nailed the second, which gave his team a 37-36 lead, his teammates from the Christian school in Independence, Mo., mobbed him.

While Seabury had two opportunities in the final 10 seconds to win, Luanaguiriyasira’s free throws upstaged what looked to be a game-winning three-pointer by Seahawk guard Scotty King just moments earlier.

“Sometimes that’s just the way it goes,” said Seabury coach Marcus Heckman, whose team dropped its fourth straight to fall to 1-5 heading into the winter break. “The kid came up big with those free throws.”

Luanaguiriyasira — whose only field-goal attempt missed badly and whose passiveness made it almost a sure bet that he would pass off to a teammate instead of firing a shot himself — might have provided the heroics, but Friday’s game really was a showdown between each team’s star.

Seabury's Grayson Dillon, right, puts up a shot over Englewood Christian's Nicholas Borchert in the Knights' 37-36 victory. Dillon led the Seahawks with 18 points in the setback Friday at Seabury.

Englewood’s athletic forward, Schneidelson Pierre, who scored a game-high 25 points, was locked up in a one-on-one battle with Seabury forward Grayson Dillon, who tallied a team-best 18 points.

“That kid is just phenomenal,” Heckman said of Pierre. “In a league like ours, he stands out like a sore thumb with the ability he has on the basketball court.”

However, Dillon outplayed Pierre at the start, helping the Seahawks build a 12-8 first-quarter lead.

Each had 14 at halftime, but Pierre outscored Seabury, 7-6, in the third. Englewood led, 31-28, heading into the fourth.

Back-to-back baskets by Seabury’s King brothers — Scotty and Steven — cut the Seahawks’ deficit to 34-33. Then with :34 seconds left, Scotty’s second three of the quarter gave Seabury’s its first lead since early on.

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“I hoped it would be enough,” King said, “but I knew there was time left on the clock.”

Enough for Pierre to launch — and miss — a three from the top of the key, which Luanaguiriyasira tracked down and then was fouled hard, setting up the game’s late dramatics.

Seabury Academy's Linaya Newstrom, center, and Englewood Christian's Laura Reed chase down a possession in the Seahawks' 21-17 victory. Seabury won Friday at Seabury.

“We won,” said a smiling Luanaguiriyasira, who held up his fist in triumph after exiting the locker room.

Seabury girls 21, Englewood 17

The Seahawks improved to 3-2 thanks to an 11-point night from senior Laura Frizell. Frizell scored back-to-back baskets after Englewood cut its deficit to 19-16 late in the fourth.

“Obviously we were not playing to the level we were capable of the first half,” Seabury coach Nick Taylor said. “But I was very pleased with the intensity in the second half and how we finished.”