BUFFALO — North Tonawanda freshman Spencer Juliano had to walk the length of the floor. The crowd was frenzied, but the fans at his end of the court hushed as he toed the free-throw line.
He eyed the basket.
Swish. Swish.
The free throws with 15.6 seconds left sealed the deal for the seventh-seeded North Tonawanda to get a 51-45 win over Orchard Park in the Section VI Class AA championship game, the program’s first title since 2020.
“I knew it was my shot,” Juliano said. “I’ve been dreaming about going to Buff State ever since I was a kid watching NT and this is my shot to win the championship and that’s exactly what I did.”
The Lumberjacks were the higher seed in only one of their tournament games, their playoff opener against Hamburg. In their subsequent three games they were facing higher seeds including the second seed in the semifinals and the top seed in the championship game.
The odds did not matter to North Tonawanda. They were not worried about the outside perceptions of their chances. It was a goal heading into the season to win the sectional title.
It did not come easy, though, as it was a journey that started with six wins in head coach Chris Juergens’ first season to 11 last year and 17 this season. Even this year, they started 6-4 before rattling off wins in 11 of the last 13.
“That first year, obviously, thrown into it right at the last minute with the coaching change, with a young team, with (Ethan) DeVantier and (Blake) Suitor and (Jack) Giancola all being sophomores on that team,” North Tonawanda head coach Chris Juergens said. “They weathered the storm. They never packed it in and quit and they’ve just been leaders for us since day one, just working whether it’s the off-season or regular season.”
The first half was an incredibly tight, back and forth affair with the score being tied at 27 heading into the break. In fact, in the first 16 minutes, both teams’ leading scorers had nine points with the Quakers being led by Justice Niver and the Lumberjacks being led by Jack Giancola.
The game continued that way into the third quarter when the intensity and volume continued to be dialed up to the maximum. Every whistle drew protests and cheers and the same thing with every made basket and the score tied at 40 going into the fourth quarter.
In the fourth quarter, North Tonawanda had five points at the charity stripe to ice the game while holding Orchard Park to five total points in the frame.
The suit that Juergens wore during the game now has two special memories attached to it, his wedding and now a sectional title. It was the source of a joke between the third-year head coach and his players.
“I’m joking with the kids in the student section, this is the suit I got married in,” Juergens said. “So I said if I lost I’m getting divorced but it was just surreal. … I made it here as a player at Maryville, but we never won it. But just being able to experience that now … I can’t describe the feeling. I think I was just numb for the first five seconds.”
Juliano and Blake Suitor tied for a team-high 11 points. Orchard Park was led by Brody Monaco’s 13 points.
The Lumberjacks will face the Section V champion at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Buffalo State University.