By Randy Whitehouse,Staff Writer

AUGUSTA – When his team came out of the final time out of Thursday night’s double-overtime thriller in the wrong formation for the play he called, Winthrop coach Dennis Dacus’ first instinct was to call another time out.

Then Dacus thought of what Mike Gingras’ first instinct would be, and decided to let the scene play out.

Gingras capped a tense Western Class C semifinal with a 3-pointer over two defenders just before the buzzer as No. 2 Winthrop pulled out a dramatic 67-64 win over No. 3 Dirigo at the Augusta Civic Center.

“I was going to call another time out and set it up, but sometimes when it’s a time out, you know, the ball gets stolen and they lay it in and we lose,” Dacus said. “So I knew it would be another overtime or we’d win. Once Michael got the ball, I knew it was going up. There’s no blocking his shot. And he nailed it.”

“I’ve played that shot in my head nine or ten times before I go to bed since I was in fourth grade,” said Gingras, who scored nine of his 14 points in the two overtimes. “I feel bad for Dirigo because I have a lot of friends on that team. I knew we weren’t going to lose that game.”

The Ramblers (17-3) will meet Boothbay in the regional final Saturday night. Dirigo closed the season at 16-4.

Gingras’ overtime heroics overshadowed tremendous games by teammate Tyler Smithgall (33 points, nine rebounds) and Dirigo’s Spencer Berry (26 points, nine rebounds), who dove after a loose ball head-first over the scorers’ table in the fourth quarter and inspired the Cougars to score the final nine points of regulation to send the game into overtime.

“We had two turnovers right in a row in the second overtime, and that killed us,” said Berry, who later sent the game into OT with a lay-up with 1:09 left. “Other than that, I wouldn’t change anything. I would play with this team any day.”

Berry’s drive to the hoop with 3:43 left in the second OT gave the Cougars a 61-55 lead. Gingras took a nice feed from Sam Leclerc and laid it in and Nate Damm (nine points) drove to the hoop for a lay-up to give the Ramblers a 62-61 lead. Berry tied it with a free throw, and then Leclerc set up Smithgall for a bucket to put Winthrop back out in front.

Dirigo had a couple of chances to tie it, but missed a lay-up inside and then turned it over. Josh Daley’s drive to the hoop finally knotted it up again with 35 seconds left. The Ramblers played for the last shot and called time with 21 seconds left.

“Unfortunately, any little mistake or a couple of missed easy shots gets magnified a little more in a ballgame like this,” said Dirigo coach Gavin Kane, who has not decided whether he will coach both the boys’ and girls’ teams at Dirigo again next season. “I want to credit Winthrop. They’re an outstanding basketball team. I can’t say enough about our kids. That second half, they just left it all out on the floor.”

Dirigo trailed by seven at the half and by as much as nine in the second half due in large part to Smithgall’s hot hand. The senior connected on numerous mid-range jumper, plus a 3-pointer, on his way to 26 points through three quarters.

“The first game (Monday) I had a bad cold, and this one I was rested and I did feel a lot better before the game,”Smithgall said. “Everyone’s been telling me to step up and I just did.”

Foul trouble plagued members of both teams in the third quarter. Dirigo unveiled its trap in the second half, but Winthrop handled it well and took a 54-45 lead on Smithgall’s three-point play with 3:36 left. Moments later, Berry stunned the crowd by going full speed over the scorers’ table and landing on the floor just short of the first row. The crowd was equally stunned when he jumped right back up, seemingly unharmed.

“It was all adrenaline,” Berry said. “I tried to save the ball and I thought I had. That’s why I got up so quick. I told my dad I always wanted to jump over the scorers’ table at the Augusta Civic Center and I finally did.”

Winthrop got the ball but Dirigo got the momentum. The Ramblers suddenly started having problems with the trap, and that led to a steal and lay-up by Mike Holmquist that began the Cougars’ 9-0 run.

Winthrop survived regulation, took a four-point lead in the first overtime, lost that, then stopped Berry game-winning try in the final seconds of the first OT to extend the game.

“I just told these guys, I said About two months ago, this team would have folded after losing that nine-point lead,'” Dacus said. “But I’ve been talking composure for a solid two months now and we held our own.”