LOCH SHELDRAKE, NY — “Ah man, it was a great game,” said Matthew Rampe, of the Roscoe Blue Devils, after losing 78-68 to the Spartans of S.S. Seward on March 1 during the Section IX Class D title game at Sullivan County Community College.

“We kept up with ‘em to the very end… we put our hearts into it,” added the 17-year old senior forward/guard.

It was a real nail-gnawer of a match between the top-seeded Spartans (18-3) and the third-seeded Blue Devils (13-9) as in the words of Spartans coach Rob Gravelle, “Whoever paid five-bucks to get in here really got their money’s worth!”

In the opening period, Seward narrowly squeaked past Roscoe by a single digit at 13-12.

At the close of the first half, Roscoe was up by a bucket (31-29) and carried their slim margin of a two-point lead into the end of the third frame, as the Spartans trailed 51-49 in the wake of the Blue Devils Daniel Clancy posting a three at the buzzer.

In the final frame, the game was tied up at several points as the sands of the game clock started to pour downwards through the hourglass: 53-53, 60-60 and 63-63.

Then the tides of time started to flow in favor of Seward in a down-to-the-wire finish.

With 37 seconds left in the match, Seward’s Vinny Vinetti stepped up to the free-throw line and aced both charity shots to close out the scorebook.

Seward’s top scorers: John Guerra (25), Ryan Stam (14 points including a three), Vinny Vinetti (2 points including two threes), Bobby Verblaauw (10).

Roscoe: John Rhodes (24 points including four threes), Nick Hill (14), Matt Rampe (10), and Dan Clancy contributed a pair of threes.

Stats from the free-throw line: Seward 20/27 (74%); Roscoe 8/15 (53%).

Veteran Roscoe coach and state hall of famer Fred Ahart said his team won its last six games en route to the sectional championship.

“They kept playing right to the end,” he said. “I’m very proud of the way our players came along as the season ended.”

The Spartans coach chipped in a few reflections on the pressures of victory.

“If I wasn’t coaching, I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more. It was very action packed up and down… it was exciting… it was a thriller.”

John Guerra, a 15-year-old sophomore at Seward took to the court as a guard.

His reaction to the game?

“We started off kind of strong, and let them come back… we weren’t expecting such a close game.”

“They came out with intensity… after the second half, we realized that we needed to come out stronger… we really wanted the title!”