BY MATT STOUT

Don Shirley remembers exactly when he knew the Windham Middle School boys basketball team could challenge for the Tri-County League Class S-2 title. In fact, that defining moment propelled the team there.

Down nine points to Woodbury of Salem with three minutes to go in the semifinals, Windham stormed back to tie, sent the game to overtime and won, 66-55, earning a spot in the championship game.

Once there, Windham exacted revenge on a Pelham squad that had beaten it twice during the regular season, winning, 64-61, on Feb. 10 to claim a second straight league title on the strength of Andrew Ivas’ tie-breaking three-point play with 28 seconds remaining.

While Shirley, the team’s coach, applauded Windham’s effort in building a 15-point lead on Pelham and fending off the border rivals in the final moments, he pointed to his team’s comeback a round earlier as the club’s defining moment.

“That’s when it came together,” said Shirley, whose team finished the regular season 10-4 to earn the tournament’s No. 3 seed. “It was a new group of kids because every year, usually the kids who play on the S team move up to the L team. But these kids were wonderful. They were attentive and willing to learn and do whatever I asked of them. It all came to fruition.”

J.P. DaSilva helped fuel the team’s offense, which also benefited from an up-tempo defensive approach. The eighth-grade co-captain scored 25 points in the final after 26 in the semifinal, complementing the offensive output of Kody Turmel, the team’s other eighth-grade co-captain, who hit three of four three-pointers and scored 15 points in the championship.

Also leading the charge were Conor Redmond, who scored eight in the final, as well as Joe Manchinton, Mike DiOrio, Danny Cannone, Joe Lorenz, Steve Dastous, Nick Fairweather, Chip Hastings, Doug Gemmell and Ivas.