After two well-played games to open the fourth annual Cape Ann YMCA 18+ Basketball League finals, Landesign and Robert's Catering may have saved the best for last.

Before a standing room crowd of more than 100, the two teams matched each other basket for basket, rebound for rebound and shot block for shot block. In the end, it was Landesign, behind a game-high 28 points from former Keene State guard Chris Timson, that walked away with the championship with an 80-76 win in the decisive third game.

Landesign took a 74-72 lead with 1:25 left when Sean Connolly canned a wide open 3-pointer. That lead held up the rest of the way when Landesign combined strong defense with clutch free-throw shooting down the stretch, finishing the comeback from a 10-point deficit.

"It was a tough game," Timson said. "They played tight defense on us, but we stepped it up. As a team we stepped it up as the season went on. We struggled a lot in the beginning of the season and had our doubts. But we came together as a team, which proved to be the most important part of our game."

A Connolly free throw with 56.4 seconds left gave Landesign a 75-72 lead. Robert's had the chance to tie, but Peter Gray, who had already made seven 3-pointers in the game, missed one. The shot was rebounded by Robert's forward Mike Oliver, who was fouled. Oliver made one of two free throw attempts, reducing the Landesign lead to 75-73.

Robert's fouled Timson on the inbounds pass with 36.4 seconds left, and the Beverly native made the front end of a one-and-one situation, upping the Landesign lead to 76-73. Down three, Caterers guard Gap Orlando tried to work the ball to Gray, who was closely guarded by Connolly.

Landesign forward Dusty Arnold (15 points) alertly stepped in front of the entry pass and deflected the ball toward midcourt. Timson beat Gray to the loose ball, scooped it up and finished off a breakaway layup, giving Landesign a 78-73 lead with 11 seconds left.

The Caterers feverishly worked the ball down court to Gregg Sousa, who hit an off balanced layup while fouled with 6.6 seconds left cutting the lead to 78-75. Sousa made his free throw, cutting the lead to 78-76. Robert's then fouled Connolly on the inbounds pass with 5.7 seconds remaining. Connolly (18 points) swished both of his freebies for an 80-76 lead, and Arnold blocked Orlando's 3-point attempt at the buzzer to end it.

"This was the best of the three games," Timson said. "We both battled each other, and we got a lot of contributions from the guys on this team. We knew that they wanted to take Sean out of the game, and the rest of us had to step it up."

Landesign did not have an answer for Gray in the first half as the salt-and-pepper-haired forward hit six first-half 3-pointers on his way to 21 points, helping Robert's take a 46-39 lead.

Gray hit his seventh 3-pointer early in the second half, and Sousa added a pair of free throws as Robert's took a 54-44 lead with 15 minutes left. Landesign, which had trouble in the first half stopping the drives of guard Zack Zagarowski (17 points) and the inside play of 6-foot-9 Khris Silveria (13 points), inserted veteran center Leo Fama into the game.

The 6-foot-plus Fama, along with Arnold, closed the middle of the paint down and forced Robert's into missing its next five shots from the floor. Landesign took advantage of Robert's cold shooting by going on a 9-0 run to close the gap to 54-53 with 11:55 left on a 3-pointer from Doug Cook and hoops from Timson, Connolly and Tyler Vuylsteke.

Landesign, aided from the inside play of Fama and Arnold, kept the Robert's lead from going above five points. Robert's held that five-point lead when a Timson layup after a Fama steal capped a 6-0 Landesign run and gave them a 69-68 lead with 2:43.

That lead was the team's first since they took a 19-18 lead with 9:17 left in the first half.

The teams flip-flopped one-point leads. But, at the 1:25-minute mark, Arnold set a screen to free up Connolly from Zagarowski near the 3-point line, and Connolly canned a wide-open trey to help Landesign gain what turned into an insurmountable lead.

"Great defense won this game for us," Fama said. "I'm not a huge scorer, so my goal was to try and keep Khris away from the basket. Dusty also did a great job down low. We did whatever was necessary to get the ball to our scorers, and you can see what Chris and Sean can do when they have the ball in their hands."

The loss was a tough one for Robert's, a team that was looking for its first 18+ title since 2001, the inaugural year. The Caterers have won more than their share of YMCA 30+ titles, including last spring's, and figured an 18+ title was their's for the taking.

"We had a pretty good lead in the second half, but we knew it was not going to hold up long," Gray said. "We knew they were going to come back, and they chipped away. Timson became real aggressive in the second half, and we didn't make plays. I had a chance to tie the game for us late but couldn't knock my shot down. But give them credit; they shaded me a lot more in the second half, and made it a lot tougher for me."

Sousa, one of the 30+ league's leading scorer, called Game 3 Timson's best of the season.

"He stepped up and carried them," Sousa said. "This was a great series and the most fun I have had in a basketball league since the old Middleton Playground days. I just wish I was a little younger to keep up with some of those guys."

Down to the wire

The finals of the Cape Ann YMCA 18+ Basketball League championship was not decided until the final 1:25 of play last night. Here is how that final 85 seconds broke down:

Time Score Play

1:25 Landesign 74-72 Sean Connolly 3-pointer

56.4 Landesign 75-72 Connolly free throw

43.9 Landesign 75-73 Mike Oliver free throw

36.4 Landesign 76-73 Chris Timson free throw

11.0 Landesign 78-73 Timson layup

6.6 Landesign 78-76 Gregg Sousa layup and free throw

5.7 Landesign 80-76 Two Connolly free throws

Landesign 80, Robert's Catering 76

LANDESIGN -- Sean Connolly 7-3-18; Chris Timson 12-1-28; Tyler Vuylsteke 3-2-8; Dusty Arnold 8-0-15; Leo Fama 1-0-2; Carl Winslow 1-0-2; Doug Cook 2-0-5; Tim Philpott 1-0-2. Totals 34-6-78.

Three-pointers: Timson (3), Connolly, Arnold, Cook.

ROBERT'S CATERING -- Khris Silveria 6-1-13; Gap Orlando 1-0-2; Mike Oliver 3-1-7; Gregg Sousa 3-5-11; Peter Gray 9-1-26; Zack Zagarowski 6-4-17. Totals 28-12-76.

Three-pointers: Gray (7), Zagarowski.

Halftime: Robert's, 46-39.

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