HARVEY – Greg Monroe smiled with 31 seconds left in Tuesday’s night Class 4A boys regional between Helen Cox and Washington-Marion.

Though it lasted maybe a second, the look was the first positive emotion the senior Georgetown signee showed all night.

Here’s why – Cox survived a low-scoring affair 50-43 to move one win away from the state tournament in Lafayette.

“It was a long game, a tough game,” Monroe said of the smile. “(It was) a sigh of relief.”

Monroe scored 14 points, grabbed nine rebounds and recorded three blocks to pace Cox, which also got 18 points from Justin Fairman, and the Cougars stayed undefeated in Louisiana this season while uppping their record to 33-7.

“He’s the unsung hero of this team,” Monroe said. “Me and Calvin (Thompson) get a lot of publicity, but he’s one of the people you call good guys. You need him. He does all the intangible things.”

In fact, the two combined to push Cox over the top in the final 2½ minutes of the game.

After Washington-Marion cut one-time nine-point lead to 42-41, Monroe set the tone for the game’s stretch run when he blocked Devin Andrews.

Tony Locure hit 1-of-2 free throws to push Cox’s lead to 43-41, and then the Indians missed on the front-end of 1-and-1. Monroe took a shot and missed, but got the rebound and picked up a Washington-Marion foul.

He sank both free throws, and then, 30 seconds later, hit two more to give Cox a 47-41 lead.

On the other end of the floor, Dontae Amos missed a shot and Fairman grabbed the rebound, getting fouled immediately.

Fairman hit 1-of-2 free throws, and with a minute left, gave Cox a 48-41 lead. It was too much for Washington-Marion to overcome on a night when the basket was unkind to it.

“We really needed the win and I just tried to give it my best,” Fairman said.

While Cox hit 8-of-12 free throws in the final 2½ minutes, Washington-Marion went 1-of-7 from the floor to close out the game.

Part of it could have been that the Indians were missing all-district guard Frankie Garrick, whose season ended nearly three weeks ago with a torn Anterior Cruciate Ligament.

“Late in the basketball game, fatigue set in,” Washington-Marion coach Mack Guillory said. “We weren’t able to convert from the free throw line and also, we weren’t able to convert a few baskets which were crucial to us getting a lead.”

Monroe clearly changed the complexion of the game with a block early on, though Guillory said part of that had to do with what fouls were getting called and what weren’t.

For the second time in three years, Cox put Washington-Marion out of the playoffs in the second round. A year ago, though, the Indians ended Cox’s season in the second round.

Tuesday night was pay back.

“Last year, they knocked us out in the second round,” Fairman said. “We were discussing this since we lost.”

But it didn’t come easy. For nearly three quarters, Washington-Marion hung around.

“Give Washington-Marion a lot of credit – they worked harder than us the first couple of quarters until we started picking up the pace,” Cox head coach Tyron Mouzon said.

He added, “They outworked us most of the game.”

Still, the Cougars can take some solace in Tuesday’s outcome.

“We didn’t play well,” Mouzon said. “It’s probably one of our worst games since early in the season and we still got a win. Hopefully, we’ll get better next game.”