Alex White wasn’t exactly certain about a couple of game-deciding free throws. His Lakota East teammates fixed that.

“They were saying, ‘You better make these,’ ” he recalled.

Good thing, because White’s clutch tosses with five seconds left were the difference in a 55-53 defeat of Our Savior New American in Saturday’s Good Samaritan Hospital Flyin’ to the Hoop at Fairmont’s Trent Arena.

It was the perfect setting for East to beat a renowned prep school that’s anchored in New York City. The Thunderhawks began the season 10-0 and were ranked among the state’s top 10 Division I teams. But since then they’ve been in a 1-4 slide and limped into Saturday having lost three straight.

East was dealt a crushing 70-65 setback at Middletown on Friday.

“We’ve had a rough stretch here,” coach Wally Vickers said. “To come back after that (Middletown) loss against, obviously, a very talented team, I’m just really proud of our guys’ effort.”

White is a promising 6-foot-6 sophomore who cracked the starting lineup late into his freshman season. He hit six of eight shots and five of seven free throws for 17 points.

Stedman Lowry was even better. The senior drilled nine of 16 shots, including a couple of treys, for 20 points.

Undone by injuries, East couldn’t follow up the 23-2 season in 2010-11 with a winning record. Reflected Vickers: “We were late with replacements.”

That’s why a 10-0 season-opening win streak rekindled the good karma of that great East team. Now, staying on the winning track is East’s goal.

“We have such good chemistry like that team did,” said Lowry, a wiry 6-3 senior who’s headed to Hillsdale (Mich.) to play ball. “But we don’t necessarily defend like they did.”

If East is to get back into Greater Miami Conference contention, it’ll likely be without budding sophomore Myo Baxter. The team’s third-leading scorer, behind Lowry and White, twisted an ankle late in the first quarter and left the arena on crutches.

That didn’t dampen the winning spirit, something that had been on hold for too many games.

“It just feels really good to be back on the winning side,” White said. “This should really help us come together as a team. I hope that we can get back on a winning streak.”