And what Hughesville achieved on Day No. 118 is something players, coaches and fans will never forget. The memory of Maddie Smith dribbling out the final seconds before jumping toward Kendall Hamm as ecstatic players and coaches met near the sideline before being met by so many students who filled the bleachers long will remain etched in their minds.

When it comes to this historic breakthrough, three little words will long resonate.

“What goes through my mind is, ‘We did it,'” Smith said.

Yes, the Spartans did. Now they go where no Hughesville girls’ basketball team ever has. The Final 4 does exist and, Hughesville, your beloved Spartans are going there.

Hughesville fans celebrate after a play against Dunmore at Wilkes Barre High School Friday evening. Hughesville won 46-40. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Smith scored 20 points, Kylie Temple 15 and every Spartan made an impact as Hughesville rallied from eight down and defeated District 2 champion Dunmore, 46-40 at Wilkes-Barre High School in the Class AAA state quarterfinals. The Spartans (27-3) also broke the program record for wins and face Holy Redeemer Monday in the semifinals at a time and place to be determined.

“Nobody sees the little things and we put in so much time in the offseason; so much time in the season with each other,” Smith said. “This is day 118 of basketball we’ve been with each other. It’s just amazing. We worked so hard for this and to do it for the first time ever is so good.”

The grind continues and Hughesville is excited it does. Preparation begins Saturday but Friday night was a moment to savor as the Spartans emptied their tanks, fought back and excelled down the stretch. Hughesville outscored Dunmore, 36-25 over the final three quarters, allowed just five second half field goals and gave the passionate students behind the south basket, as well as all the other fans who traveled Friday, quite a thrill.

The moments following the game pounded home the bond between team and community as players posed with students. Shortly after that, families and friends delivered joyful embraces, exchanging both happy smiles and tears.

“I don’t think it’s all sunk in,” Hughesville coach Dustin King said. “I’m hoping whenever we’re done, whenever that is, we can look back and say that this is the best Hughesville team that ever was.”

Casey Schultz of Hughesville passes to Kendall Hamm as they play Dunmore at Wilkes Barre High School Friday evening. Hughesville won 46-40. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Hughesville wants more, but for now it has earned that title, breaking down another wall after achieving history the past two seasons. A team that has been relentlessly going at it for nearly four full months, relied on all that experience, all that effort and all that closeness to fight past an excellent team which had it against the ropes numerous times.

Through it all, Hughesville kept swinging and Smith and Temple helped it land the knockout blow, connecting on five clutch free throws down the stretch. After Smith grabbed the rebound following a missed, last-second 3-pointer, the celebration was on.

“My immediate thought was finding J (sister and teammate Jadyn Temple) because sharing this with her is going to be something so special and something I’ll remember forever,” Kylie Temple said. “Just to be able to squeeze through a crowd of excited people and hug her and hug my mom and hug everyone was such a great moment. I don’t even know how to describe it. I’m still trying to process it.

“It’s just such a great experience and it’s just pure happiness that we have and such pride in this team.”

Temple drained one of the biggest shots of her high school career late in the district championship against Loyalsock. She now has another one to rank up there after banking in a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from just right of the arc’s top which put Hughesville ahead, 31-30 entering the fourth quarter.

Maddie Smith of Hughesville takes a foul shot against Dunmore near the end of the game at Wilkes Barre High School Friday evening. Hughesville won 46-40. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

The Spartans did not lead until early in the third quarter and Dunmore quickly erased that advantage. But following Temple’s trey off a Hamm assist, Hughesville never trailed again. The Spartans were constantly pushed throughout those final eight minutes, but refused to to let Dunmore regain control.

“I knew if I took the shot, there would probably be two or three bigs down there that could hopefully rebound and put it back up,” Temple said. “Then it ended up going in. It was a great momentum builder for the rest of the game. We kept pushing and that kind of re-lit the spark.”

Temple fanned the flames hitting a jumper from the wing early in the fourth before a Smith putback again made it a three-point game. Temple then deflected a pass, Allyssa King stole it and found Smith and Hughesville took its biggest lead, 37-32.

After Dunmore closed within one, Smith found a streaking Casey Schultz who scored inside before making a steal which led to two Smith free throws and a 42-37 advantage. Smith later added a foul shot and Temple two more, giving Hughesville its biggest lead, 45-37. An Amanda Dempsey 3-pointer cut it to 45-40 with 12.9 seconds left but a Smith free throw and final Spartan defensive stand sealed victory.

“The biggest thing is we kind of got whipped up on the rebounds a little bit, so we have to work on that moving forward, but the way the girls locked in and stepped up was pretty awesome to see,” Dustin King said. “Anyone you put in to this game, they’re going to give you 100 % and everybody we put in tonight was huge.”

Maddie Smith of Hughesville drives to the basket against Dunmore at Wilkes Barre High School Friday evening. Hughesville won 46-40. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

King was right on both fronts. Dunmore clearly won the rebounding battle and that almost proved fatal as the Bucks created several points off second and third-chance opportunities. But the Spartans also overcame that with stifling defense and some old-fashioned guts, as well as some big shots.

Dunmore raced to a 10-2 start in the game’s first four minutes, but a Vivian Draper steal and dish to Smith stopped the bleeding and Hughesville clawed within 15-10 entering the second quarter. There, the Spartans twice tied but Dunmore answered both times. Draper, however, gave Hughesville a lift entering halftime, drawing it within 24-22 with a last-second jumper.

Despite all the missteps during that first half, Hughesville was only down two and looking ahead; not back.

“We knew coming into the game it was going to be physical, it was going to be close,” Smith said after adding seven rebounds and three steals. “They’re a great team. They’re greatly coached. We knew it was going to be a dogfight.”

Hughesville always seems up for a good fight and kept battling back in the third quarter, taking its first lead on a Smith 3-point play before Temple made a steal and two free throws for a 27-24 advantage. After Dunmore went up 30-28, Hughesville turned up the defense and allowed just three more field goals. Conversely, the Spartans became the first opponent which reached 40 points against Dunmore in more than a month.

Maddie Smith of Hughesville drives to the basket against Dunmore at Wilkes Barre High School Friday evening. Hughesville won 46-40. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Different players delivered crucial shots and/or plays at key moments, too. Anna Easton grabbed nine rebounds, Draper made four steals and King three. Hamm and Schultz shined off the bench, Hamm scoring five first-half points which helped rev up the comeback effort, and Schultz going for seven rebounds, two assists and two steals.

“We were switching back and forth on defense the whole game which is something I’m proud of us this team that we can do that very effectively,” Temple said. “I think after the first half we figured out how to play defense against that team to not let them get those open shots. We just had to figure which one worked best and switched back and forth a little bit depending on what they did. We had full confidence in whatever we were doing would work.”

That goes back to all the practices. And that includes work at the foul line. Extra time spent there paid huge dividends with Hughesville going 7 of 9 in the fourth quarter and 20 of 25 for the game. Temple went 8 for 8 and was 4 of 4 from there and the field in the fourth quarter.

“We practice for like 10-20 minutes at practice every day because we know they’re so important,” Smith said. “We practice that so much for these moments. We try and create pressure foul shots and to have a real game feel (at practice). It really worked.”

Not everything worked against Dunmore and Hughesville knows it has things it needs to clean up some things entering the semifinals. But the Spartans survived and advanced and that’s all that matters at this point.

By Monday, Hughesville will be at four full months together since practices started last November. Everything done these last 118 days has been for moments like the one the Spartans experienced Friday and the opportunity they earned Monday.

Because they worked so hard when no one was watching, Hughesville has created unforgettable moments when so many have looked on.

And so many sure enjoy what this team has done.

“I kind of knew we had a lot of fans here but once they did the lineups it was like, ‘Wow! We have a lot of fans here.’ It was pretty cool,” Dustin King said. “These are moments none of these girls will ever forget. This is an awesome ride.”

And a historic one.

DUNMORE (40)

Janaya Martin 0 2-2 2, Janessa Martin 2 0-0 5, Amanda Dempsey 5 2-2 15, Leena Conte 1 0-0 2, Michelle Nidoh 4 4-5 12, Steeves 1 0-0 2, Jackie Brown 1 0-0 2. Totals 14 8-9 40.

HUGHESVILLE (46)

Kylie Temple 3 8-8 15, Maddie Smith 5 10-13 20, Kendall Hamm 2 0-0 5, Casey Schultz 1 0-0 2, Vivian Draper 1 2-4 4, Allyssa King 0 0-0 0, Anna Easton 0 0-0 0. Totals 12 20-25 46.

Dunmore 15 9 6 10–40

Hughesville 10 12 9 15–46

3-pointers: Dunmore 4 (Dempsey 3, Janessa Martin); Hughesville 2 (Temple, Hamm).

Records: Hughesville 27-3. Dunmore 24-4.

Allyssa King of Hughesville takes a three-point shot against Dunmore at Wilkes Barre High School Friday evening. Hughesville won 46-40. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Vivian Draper of Hughesville puts up a foul shot against Dunmore at Wilkes Barre High School Friday evening. Hughesville won 46-40. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Vivian Draper of Hughesville puts up a shot against Dunmore at Wilkes Barre High School Friday evening. Hughesville won 46-40. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Vivian Draper of Hughesville passes to Casey Schultz as they play Dunmore at Wilkes Barre High School Friday evening. Hughesville won 46-40. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Kendall Hamm of Hughesville tries to dribble through heavy defense by Dunmore at Wilkes Barre High School Friday evening. Hughesville won 46-40. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Vivian Draper and Anna Easton of Hughesville slap hands after a defensive play against Dunmore at Wilkes Barre High School Friday evening. Hughesville won 46-40. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Hughesville celebrate a defensive play against Dunmore at Wilkes Barre High School Friday evening. Hughesville won 46-40. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Kylie Temple of Hughesville celebrates with team mates after a foul shot against Dunmore in the final minute of the game at Wilkes Barre High School Friday evening. Hughesville won 46-40. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Hughesville celebrate their win over Dunmore at Wilkes Barre High School Friday evening. Hughesville won 46-40. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette