A basket with two seconds to play gave top-seeded North Cross a 69-67 victory over Timberlake Christian School Thursday night in the quarterfinals of the Virginia Independent Conference basketball tournament, leaving Holy Cross, a 75-51 winner over Miller School, as the city's only hope for a local team to win the crown.

North Cross, 16-5, held the lead most of the game but except for a nine-point lead early in the first quarter, the Raiders were never able to build up more than a three- or four-point lead.

Timberlake, playing in the VIC tournament for the first time, came within an eyelash of forcing the game into overtime when the Tornadoes tied the score with 12 seconds to go. But Hal Johnson tapped in the winning basket for the Raiders with just two seconds remaining.

The Tornadoes made eight three-point goals, with Marty Chandler connecting on three and Tommy Middleton and Travis Stickle two apiece. Stickle took scoring honors for the Tornadoes with 16 points, while Mike Kelley had 14, Chandler 11 and Middleton 10.

Although disappointed with the loss, Timberlake coach Tim Hill was anything but displeased with his club's performance against the top-seeded club, noting it was the program's first-ever VIC tournament appearance.