Then, moments later, the Eagles moved to the baseline and smiled broadly yet again for another group shot, this time for the benefit of their masked supporters. In one of those images, senior Clayton Rowland looked to his left and pointed with two fingers at the Section VI banner.

The celebratory gesture was understandable.

The Eagles’ title drought was finally over.

Rowland connected on three of four free throws in the final 31/2 minutes and Ellicottville, the No. 2 seed, made a defensive stand in the closing seconds to propel it to a 40-38 victory over No. 1 Randolph in the Class C2 title game.

Randolph’s Owen Nelson (4) battles Ellicottville’s Logan Grinols (30) and Clayton Rowland (22) for a rebound during Friday’s Section VI Class C2 final in Randolph. P-J photo by Scott Kindberg

The win secured the Eagles’ first sectional crown since 2003 and capped a remarkable career for a group of seniors who have played together for years.

Senior Leif Jimerson led Ellicottville (15-2) with 14 points, Rowland had 9 and Wyatt Chudy, another senior, chipped in 8. When added together, their years of varsity service is 10 years, which left Coach Dave McCann understandably sentimental after the final horn.

“It’s been one heck of a ride,” McCann said. “We’ve spent a lot of time together over the last few years. I’m having a hard time not to get choked up right now. Those kids deserve that. They’ve worked so hard for me for so long. For them to gut that out, it’s who they are. They’re hard-working kids, who give it all they have. I think we got through on a lot of grit.”

Sophomore Carson Conley led Randolph (13-4) with 13 points and sophomore Jaiden Huntington added 10.

While neither team shot the ball well — the Eagles were, unofficially, 13 of 41 from the floor compared to 16 of 49 for Randolph — Ellicottville dominated the glass which was the difference in securing its third win of the season against their Cattaraugus County rival.

“We couldn’t rebound, we couldn’t score and we didn’t take care of the ball,” Cardinals coach Kevin Hind said. “It wasn’t our night. Give them credit. They played hard, they took things away we wanted to do and we didn’t execute.”

The Eagles led by as many as nine points in the first half, but the Cardinals closed the second quarter with a 3-pointer and a putback from Conley and a layup from senior Jordan DeBuque to pull within 16-14 with 20 seconds remaining. Jimerson’s trey 12 seconds later gave Ellicottville a 19-14 lead at the break.

Logan Grinols’ 3-pointer to begin the third quarter pushed the Eagles’ lead to 22-14, but the Cardinals ripped off 10 straight points — treys by Conley and Drew Hind, a layup by DeBuque and a steal and layup by Conley — to give the hosts their first lead since the first quarter.

Randolph pushed its advantage to 31-26, but Chudy’s traditional three-point play with 41 seconds left in the third period closed the deficit to 31-29 heading into the final eight minutes.

The Eagles used a 7-0 run to start the fourth quarter, courtesy of Jimerson’s drive to the hoop and his jumper from deep, and Ryan DeKay’s bucket on a nice assist from Rowland. Armed with a 36-31 lead, Ellicottville didn’t score another field goal the rest of the game. Instead, the Eagles made just enough free throws to keep Randolph at bay.

The Cardinals did have a chance to tie or win the game, though.

After Drew Hind made a steal with 26 seconds remaining and Randolph trailing, 40-38, the Cardinals worked the ball for a good shot, but Ashton Bushey’s jumper with about five seconds remaining didn’t fall, Ellicottville’s Logan Grinols grabbed the rebound and the clock ran out, allowing the Eagles to finally celebrate their long awaited sectional crown.

“To get a defensive stop, that’s kind of fitting for us not to win it on the offensive end and win it on the defensive end,” McCann said. “That’s where our bread and butter has been all year. We needed that one stop there late and we were able to get it.”

NOTES: In their regular-season meetings, Ellicottville defeated Randolph, 48-40, on Feb. 19 and, 50-47, on Feb. 24.

ELLICOTTVILLE (40)

Marsh 0 1 1, Jimerson 5 0 14, DeKay1 0 2, Caldwell 0 0 0, Rowland 2 4 9, Chudy 3 2 8, Grinols 2 0 6, Totals 13 7 19.

RANDOLPH (38)

Bushey 3 0 6, IHind 1 0 2, DHind 1 0 3, Nelson 0 0 0, DeBuque 2 0 4, Shields 0 0 0, Conley 5 0 13, Huntington 4 1 10, Totals 16 1 38.

3-point goals — Jimerson 4, Rowland, Grinols 2, DHind, Conley 3, Huntington.

Ellicottville 6 13 10 11 — 40

Randolph 7 7 17 7 — 38