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WORCESTER — The clock ticked just five times, but it seemed like an eternity for everyone in attendance.

“Those last five second felt like about an hour,” said Central Catholic forward Jimmy Zenevitch. “It was just unbelievable.”

With the Raiders trailing by a point, Central legend Carson Desrosiers hit the shot of a lifetime, a short turnaround to put his squad up by a point with just five second left on the clock.

“It wasn’t a buzzer-beater, but it was pretty sweet,” said Desrosiers with a huge grin.

St. John’s of Shewsbury’s David White did manage an coast-to-coast rush, but his contested layup at the buzzer fell short, as Central Catholic clinched the Division 1 state championship last night at the DCU Center.

“My heart stopped,” said Raiders point guard Jaycob Morales. “I was just praying for (White’s shot) to fall short. And it did and it was just amazing. This game meant the world to us.”

This marks the third state hoops title overall for the Raiders, and second in three years, both over St. John’s of Shrewsbury.

“We had worked so hard since the beginning of November,” said Raiders guard Luis Puello. “So we knew we could accomplish this. I don’t have words. This is the happiest moment of my life.”

But it certainly wasn’t easy for the Raiders.

“Maybe there was a little fear,” said Desrosiers. “Maybe a few nerves when we were down by six. But we all rallied around each other and we didn’t come this far to lose. We really dug in.”

For a while, it looked as if Central Catholic may run away with the game. After finishing the first quarter trailing 12-9, the Raiders simply fell into the grove. They went on as stunning 17-0 run, taking a commanding 27-17 lead.

But back came the Sachems.

After being held to just three points in the first half, St. John’s point guard White exploded for 11 point in the third quarter as the Sachems rallied all the way back to eventually grab a 49-43 lead with 5:50 to go in the game.

Now trailing by six, Morales could be heard reminding each of his teammates that the game was far from over.

“I had to let them know that I believed and they should believe,” said Morales. “I wanted them to know that, no matter how many people in the gym didn’t believe, as long as we believed we had the game.”

Head coach Rick Nault echoed that sentiment during a time out.

“We weren’t that sharp,” said Nault. “But the kids kept believing. I kept telling them to relax and that we’d make the plays. I truly believe in the things that we do. We’re going to make stops and we’re going to make plays.”

And that they did. Michael Alvarez knocked down a big 3-pointer, and the rest was Desrosiers, who scored 10 of the Raiders’ final 13 points, including the two that meant the most.

“On that final possession we drew something up we liked with Jimmy and Carson,” said Nault. “And we got the perfect look for Carson.”

Once the ball entered the Wake Forest-bound legend’s hands, his teammates all but knew the outcome.

“It I have to go to one guy,” said Morales, “one guy that I knew would have my back and take that big shot, it’s the Big Man. He started all of this, and we knew that he was going to finish it the right way.”

The shot fell through, further cementing Desrosiers’ legacy, and sending the crowd into a frenzy, first with the shot and finally the outcome seconds later.

Desrosiers dominated to the tune of a game-high 26 points — including a massing two-handed slam dunk. Alvarez was the Raiders’ next high scorer with 11 points and Morales hit a third-quarter 3-pointer.

“This is for everyone,” said Morales. “Everyone that ever doubted us and those that believed in us. This is for all the kids that look up to us and all the fans. I wanted to win it for these guys (on the team) and we did it.”