WAYLAND -- They say the weather is difficult to predict in New England. But the rain showers that came pouring down on a sunny day at Wayland High School yesterday? Those were completely unforeseen.

It was Hopedale junior Cole Spear who opened the skies with his high, arcing shot that splashed through net more often than not, making him the champion of the 19th annual Daily News/MetroWest YMCA 3-point Shootout.

The 6-foot 5-inch Spear outdueled Milford senior Greg Long 8-6 in the finals, using the first-year 2-point money ball to make the difference and completing a day in which he buried 36 of 65 shots from downtown.

"I just felt comfortable throughout the morning when we were warming up," said Spear, the first-ever Hopedale player, boy or girl, to win the shootout. "I just stuck with what worked."

In the end, that was the money ball, which not only earned him the title, but got him to the finals in the first place. Going second in the semifinals after Millis' Chris Santos (a player who drilled six threes in Friday night's win over Ashland), Spear canned the final shot to give him eight points - enough to beat Santos' seven and get him to the finals against Long.

And in the finals, already having made six shots, Spear took the red, white and blue money ball from the rack, looked at the clock, took a dribble and fired away.

"I had a lot of time left, so I just took a step back and came into the shot like I normally do in a game situation," Spear said. His shot bounced off the front and back rims before falling through.

Long, shooting second, had a chance to do the same, but his shot found front rim.

"Actually (I missed) the last two shots, so I could have won," Long said. "But that's alright. It's a fun event, you know, it's for a good cause."

Long might have turned in the most impressive round of the day in the third round, when he drilled nine of his 13 shots to tie Santos for the day's best total with 10 points.

"I was just feelin' it," said the Scarlet Hawk captain. "When I'm stroking it, I'm gonna keep going with it. Shots are just gonna keep falling."

They almost didn't during that same third round for Spear, who suffered his only hiccup after hitting nine shots in round two. Spear made only two of his first eight shots in the third round, but came back to nail three of his last four, including the money ball, to move on. He walked off the court shaking his head.

"My shot wasn't falling that well, and the flick just wasn't feeling right," Spear said. "But I went to the side and worked on it through the air, and luckily I was able to fix it.

"Confidence is the biggest key," he added. "Without that, no one would be able to go out there and put up the numbers that they did today."

In the finals, Spear was confidently dropping 3s from high in the air. He said that's not what he's known for - but he does certainly prefer the 3.

So did plenty of others at Wayland High's gym, who fired in exactly 300 threes yesterday on the boys side. Joining Spear, Long and Santos in the semifinals was Lincoln-Sudbury's Nick Stanton, while Franklin's Jeff Macchi and Hudson's Peter Schreck turned in impressive performances to get to the quarterfinals.

The day was also unique because the boys side only required one tie-breaking round, after the 29-man first round - a rarity for such a crowded shootout.

But in the end, the tall Blue Raider sniper stood alone.

"(Spear)'s a great shooter," Long said. "He puts a ton of arc on his shot. It goes in ... Plain and simple."

Proceeds from the event went to the YMCA's Partners with Youth campaign.

DAILY NEWS/METROWEST YMCA

3-POINT SHOOTOUT

Boys

Competitors: Chris Martin (Acton-Boxboro); Jimmy Frazitta (Algonquin); Rich Nicolas (Ashland); Brandon Keddy (Bellingham); Derek Pennie (Blackstone-Millville); Derek Castelline (Concord-Carlisle); Mike Miklavic (Dover-Sherborn); Dan Jones (Framingham); Jeff Macchi (Franklin); Tom O'Brien (Holliston); Cole Spear (Hopedale); Zac Bright (Hopkinton); Peter Schreck (Hudson); John Iacobucci (Hudson Catholic); Mike Howard (Keefe Tech); Nick Stanton (Lincoln-Sudbury); Jon Hovsepian (Marian); Brian Yurovich (Marlborough); David Gross (Maynard); Bryan Lee (Medfield); Greg Long (Milford); Chris Santos (Millis); Matt Griffin (Natick); Justin Aldrich (Nipmuc); Mike Verpaelst (Tri-County); Hari Ramesh (Wayland); Mike Swets (Westborough); Jason Stewart (Weston); Kyle Engbers (Whitinsville Christian)

First Round: Spear 7, Long 7, Macchi 7, Schreck 7, Swets 6, Yurovich 6, Stewart 6, Frazitta 6, Pennie 5, Stanton 5, Hovsepian 5, Griffin 5, Santos 5, Lee 4, Aldrich 4, Bright 4, O'Brien 4, Iacobucci 4, Keddy 3, Jones 3, Ramesh 3, Verpaelst 3, Martin 2, Miklavic 2, Nicolas 2, Gross 2, Engbers 2, Howard 1, Castelline 1. (O'Brien, Lee, Iacobucci advance in shoot-off)

Second Round: Spear 9, Santos 9, Schreck 8, Swets 7, Griffin 7, Macchi 7, Long 6, Stanton 6, Yurovich 5, Stewart 5, Lee 4, Iacobucci 4, Hovsepian 3, Pennie 3, O'Brien 3, Frazitta 2.

Third Round: Long 10, Santos 10, Stanton 8, Spear 7, Schreck 6, Macchi 5, Swets 4, Griffin 3.

Semifinals: Spear 8, Long 8, Santos 7, Stanton 6.

Finals: Spear 8, Long 6.