AUGUSTA - Three was the magic number for Winthrop.

The Ramblers secured their second state championship game berth in three years with a 51-45 victory over top-seeded Dirigo at the Augusta Civic Center Saturday night.

Winthrop will meet Eastern Class C champion Calais for the state title next Saturday at the Augusta Civic Center.

Dirigo had beaten Winthrop in the previous two meetings between the MVC rivals, 48-44 in the regular season at Winthrop and 59-57 in the MVC championship.

Larry Foster led a balanced Winthrop offense with 12 points and eight rebounds, while Sam Leclerc tallied 11 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Thomas Knight paced Dirigo with 21 points and 11 rebounds, while Colby Knapp added 14 points. Leclerc was named the tournament's MVP.

"Everyone played their role, and played their role well" said Winthrop senior Tim Gingras, who had seven points. "Larry knew that he had to step outside to kind of give us a jump start, so he made some big shots. And we had guys that came off the bench and played their part."

Winthrop needed others to play their part because Dirigo used a diamond-and-one defense, with Adam Law shadowing Leclerc, the MVC's leading scorer, for most of the game. When the Ramblers figured it out, they were on their way.

"We had practiced against it all year but had never really had to run it," Winthrop coach Dennis Dacus said. "They ran it a lot better than we've ever seen and they kind of stopped (Leclerc) in the first half."

"Winthrop's just got so many weapons," Dirigo coach Gavin Kane said. "If you'd told me we'd keep Sam Leclerc to 11 points, I'd think our chances were pretty good of winning the ball game. But they just had other kids that stepped up and banged shots."

The first half saw five ties and seven lead changes, but Dirigo controlled the tempo most of the half. The Cougars had success getting the ball inside to Knight and Knapp (eight points apiece), while Winthrop, unable to get its up-tempo attack chugging on all cylinders, was relegated to doing most of its damage from the perimeter against Dirigo's 1-2-2 zone. Leclerc didn't score his first points until he hit a 3-pointer with 3:10 left in the half, but Damm (seven points), Foster (five points) and Andrew Smithgall (five points) helped pick up the slack.

Wes Gagnon burned the Ramblers from the outside for the first two games, so they kept a defender on him on the perimeter while the Cougars continued to rely on Knight to start the second half. The Winthrop offense, meanwhile, had more success solving Dirigo's zone for open looks. Zach Farrington, Leclerc and Foster all hit 3-pointers as Winthrop opened up a 34-28 cushion five minutes into the third period.

That margin got as high as nine to start the fourth quarter before Knapp and Knight combined to make four straight from the line to pull the Cougars within three with 2:54 left.

After a Winthrop turnover, Dirigo had a chance to tie or get to within a point but the Rambler defense collapsed on Knight in the post, forcing Enrico Ross to reluctantly try, and come up short, on a jumper with just over a minute to go.

Dirigo was forced to foul, and sent Leclerc to the line to shoot one-and-one with 27 seconds left. Leclerc made the first and missed the second to make it 48-44, then Law missed a 3-point attempt from the top of the key with nine seconds left to seal it.