When they left school Thursday, that number stood at two.

Now it’s down to one.

Senior Carter Brink had 31 points, eight assists, four rebounds and three steals to lead Panama to the first New York State Public High School Athletic Association championship game in program history with a 74-53 win over Section III’s Sackets Harbor in a semifinal Friday at Visions Veterans Memorial Arena.

“We all realize that the job is not done yet. We still have work to do,” Brink said postgame. “Get a good night’s sleep and come back tomorrow ready to go.”

Panama’s Alex Barmore drives to the basket Friday against Sackets Harbor. Photo courtesy of Brynne Hinsdale

Panama will take on Section XI’s Bridgehampton in today’s 6 p.m. championship game. The Killer Bees beat Section II’s Loudonville Christian 63-53 in Friday’s first semifinal.

“They bring a lot of energy. It’s another man-to-man team, very quick and very physical,” Brink said of Bridgehampton. “That’s the way we play too, so we’re excited for the matchup.”

The Panthers took control from the outset of their game, leading 1-0 before the game technically began as Brink sank a free throw after the Patriots were assessed a technical foul for dunking during warmups.

Panama led 19-10 after the first quarter as senior Alex Barmore gave them that nine-point lead on a bucket with 1:30 remaining in the period.

“We knew they’d be coming in playing man to man. … We always like speed matchups. We feel like we’re a very fast team and we can play fast,” Brink said. “We love it when a team plays man to man because we feel like we get good shots against them.”

Sackets Harbor hung around during the second quarter as seniors Marcus Castine and Dylan Aubert each had a pair of 3-pointers during the frame.

“Scouting report said that they weren’t a great perimeter shooting basketball team. Contrary to the scouting report, No. 4 comes in and lights it up for five treys,” Nelson said of Aubert.

The Patriots cut their deficit to as few as six with 1:48 left in the first half, but free throws from Brink and senior Bryce Hinsdale pushed the Panthers’ lead back to eight at halftime.

“We scouted them pretty well. We knew exactly what was coming at us,” Nelson said of Bridgehampton, which eventually switched to some zone defense. ” … One of the luxuries we have is playing some really good basketball coaches in our league. Playing against Cory Emory’s 2-3 defense late in the season, you can’t get much more prepared than that.”

Brink hit a 3-pointer on Panama’s first possession of the third quarter and Hinsdale followed with a bucket to make it a 44-31 game. Brink finished the quarter with a three-point play as the Panthers took a 56-40 lead, but Aubert hit another 3-pointer at the buzzer to keep hope alive for Sackets Harbor.

“He’s a versatile player who can score at all levels. … Big-time players have to play great in big-time moments,” Nelson said of Brink. “Shout-out to Baker Mayfield … we woke up feeling dangerous this morning. Hopefully we wake up with the same feeling tomorrow.”

Nelson’s Panama teams lost fourth-quarter leads in each of their semifinal appearances in 2016 and 2019.

In fact, six years ago, the Panthers led by four in the closing seconds in the same Binghamton arena they were in Friday before a four-point play sent that game into overtime where they later lost.

But Barmore converted a three-point play with 4:57 left this time and Brink later hit a 3-pointer to make it a 21-point game before both coaches began to empty their benches.

“Nelson deserves this,” Brink said. ” … This is his last year, we want to make sure he’s going to end on a bang. We’re going to do everything we can to make that possible.”

Now Nelson, who has said that this season will be his last of 18 on the Panama varsity bench, hopes their final game of 25 ends in the school’s first championship.

“We definitely had some ghosts. We’ve found some big ways to lose on this stage, so it feels good,” Nelson said. “Our end goal wasn’t to win this game. We’ll go out there and battle tomorrow, and see what happens.

“This is the end for me,” he added. “I’ve got one more to go.”

NOTES: Barmore had 13 points, nine rebounds and two steals; Hinsdale had 12 points, six rebounds and six assists; and senior Tate Catanese had 8 points and seven rebounds for Panama, which shot 30 of 58 from the field, including 4 of 12 from 3-point range, and turned the ball over 10 times. … The Panthers scored 11 points off 10 Sackets Harbor turnovers and allowed just 2 second-chance points. … Panama was credited with a 38-29 rebounding advantage. “Our breakdown … right before we go out there is ‘Eat glass,'” Nelson said. “It’s kind of our mantra … If we do that, we’re pretty successful.” … Castine had 26 points, eight rebounds and three assists; Aubert had 21 points and four rebounds; and Ethan Tracy had nine rebounds and two steals for Sackets Harbor, which shot 18 of 55 from the field, including 7 of 26 from 3-point range. … Bridehampton took a 21-19 with 3:54 remaining in the second quarter and led the rest of the way in Friday’s first semifinal against Loudonville Christian. The game was close throughout, but Killer Bees led or were tied for all but 1:11 of the contest.

PANAMA (74)

Barmore 6 1 13, Spiesman 3 0 6, Hinsdale 5 1 12, Brink 10 8 31, Burkholder 0 0 0, Abers 0 0 0, Mescall 1 0 2, Horton 1 0 2, Catanese 4 0 8. Totals 30 10 74.

SACKETS HARBOR (53)

Brown 0 0 0, Aubert 7 2 21, Tracy 1 0 2, EOliva 0 0 0, JPeters 0 1 1, LPeters 0 0 0, Castine 9 6 21, Cocco 0 0 0, SOliva 1 1 3, Ricca 0 0 0. Totals 18 10 53.

3-point goals-Hinsdale, Brink 3, Aubert 5, Castine 2.

Panama 19 20 17 18 – 74

Sackets Harbor 10 21 12 10 – 53