by Frank Schroth

Talk about a nail biter? This afternoon, two tough basketball teams with a lot of heart and no quit took to the floor at UMass. The road to the final buzzer went like this.

Milton came out strong in the first period. They dominated the boards, and their defense started where it left off the last game. It was tough. Then the 2nd period happened and Sharon blasted away. They prevailed at the free throw line and by the end of the second period the pendulum had swung and Sharon was up 31 to 23.

The pendulum continued to swing only faster. The third period saw Milton claw their way back. A three pointer from Matt Papalambros looked to be the turn of the tide in Milton’s favor. It was tied up 44-44 at the start of the 4th period.

Back and forth it went. Milton was up by three with 26 seconds left to play, but Sharon had a throw in and Milton’s ability to rebound failed them for about 20 seconds. Sharon took a 3 point shot — missed. And another — missed. And another – there might have been a 4th. I lost count, but give a team like that those chances and they will hit and they did – They tied it up with less than 3 seconds to play. The game went to overtime and Milton dug in. They took the lead and this time did not let go. The final score was 71-69.

Congrats Wildcats. They will play in the Garden Tuesday night at 7:30 against the Div 2 North winner New Mission. You can purchase tickets at ticketmaster.com they are $10.95 ahead of time and $15 at the door

You can find Patriot Ledger coverage of the game here.