By Randy Whitehouse,Staff Writer

AUGUSTA – For Sam Leclerc and the Winthrop Ramblers, a little practice makes perfect.

Leclerc nailed a pull-up jumper from just inside the foul-line with 1:04 left to put No. 2 Winthrop in front, then iced the game with two clutch free throws with 20.8 seconds left to lead Winthrop to its second Western Class C title in four years with a 57-54 win over top-seeded Boothbay Saturday night at the Augusta Civic Center.

“I went to the gym earlier today and took about 200 of those (jumpers),” said the sophomore guard. “It’s something my coach has been harping on me all season long about, getting in the lane and taking that jumper. Couldn’t have picked a better time to do it.”

The Ramblers will face Calais for the state championship next Saturday night at the Augusta Civic Center.

Nate Damm led the Ramblers (18-3) with 15 points, while Leclerc added 12 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Kris Noonan led Boothbay (18-3) with 17 points and nine rebounds, while Matt Sceviour added 13 points.

Mike Gingras’ lay-in with just under three minutes to go gave the Ramblers a 53-49 lead, but Pat Norton answered with a bucket and Sceviour hit a 3-pointer to give the Seahawks a one-point lead with 2:07 to go. Leclerc then passed up an open 20-footer to improve his position and put the Ramblers ahead with a soft jumper just inside the lane.

Noonan had two chances inside to put Boothbay back in front, but his first try was short and his second long. Following a time out, Leclerc calmly sank the two clinching free throws.

“That was a clutch performance right there,” said Winthrop coach Dennis Dacus. “I knew they were going to foul right away, and Sam was trying to get Nate to come and grab it and put Nate at the line, but I just said We’re all set.’ Then Sammy gets grabbed, makes the two and we’re champions.”

The Seahawks were still within one possession, but missed badly on three tries to tie. Sceviour missed a 3-pointer. Boothbay collected the rebound and called time out with 10 seconds left, but Sceviour and Roy Arsenault both missed 3-point attempts as time ran out.

“I screwed up on the last play. I thought we had the ball on the baseline (after the time out),” said Boothbay coach I.J. Pinkham. “I set the play up for the baseline, but when we got out there, we found it was on the sideline, so we ran one of our regular plays, but we didn’t get what we’d planned on getting.”

The first half was as tight as one would expect from a 1 vs. 2 matchup, with three ties and four lead changes. Winthrop enjoyed the lead for much of the first quarter, but then Boothbay started pounding the ball inside to Noonan (10 points in the quarter), who scored three straight hoops to give the Seahawks a 35-29 advantage.

The Ramblers closed the quarter strong, getting a 3-pointer from Damm (13 in the first half) and a lay-in from Kyle Plossay in the final seconds to take a one-point lead into the intermission.

Both teams cooled off considerably in the third quarter, combining for just 12 points, then warmed up again to start the fourth.

The Ramblers got hoops from Smithgall, Tim Gingras and Leclerc to take a 51-44 lead with 3:46 to go. Sceviour drilled a trey and Noonan a turnaround jumper to make it a two-point game, setting up the dramatic back-and-forth in the final two minutes.

“We didn’t rebound the ball well,” said Pinkham. “That’s been our strength all year, getting second shots and holding the other team to one shot. The rebounding really hurt us.”