SANFORD — Sadie Sevigny refers to it as being “in the green,” when her feet are set, the form is on point and the shot follows right on line.

The junior picked the right time to find that zone for the Sanford girls’ basketball team.

Sevigny hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 43 seconds left, one of two big shots the forward hit in the final three minutes, and the Spartans nipped Scarborough, 33-31, Friday night in a matchup of two of Class AA South’s leading teams.

“It’s been a while since we beat Scarborough, it definitely felt amazing,” Sevigny said. “Last year, we took a few hard losses to them. But I think all the hard work at practice, and just everyone being so close as a team, definitely paid off tonight.”

The final shot came as part of a chaotic final minute that culminated a second half in which Scarborough (8-3) stormed back from an 11-point deficit. Scarborough appeared to take the lead again on a Caroline Hartley basket with 16 seconds left, but officials ruled a travel, giving the Spartans (8-2) the ball and allowing them to eventually seal the victory.

“That was the most stressful game I think I’ve ever played,” said Sanford guard Julissa McBarron, who led the Spartans with 13 points and eight rebounds. “When it came down to those last few seconds and then time ran out, it was such an amazing feeling.”

Scarborough Coach Mike Giordano had no comment on the traveling call, but praised his team’s fortitude in rallying back from a 25-14 halftime hole.

“We dealt with adversity, and I thought the kids hung in there and battled all the way to the end,” said Giordano, whose team was led by 12 points from Hartley. “You want to see what your team’s made of, and we showed a lot of character tonight.”

Scarborough held Sanford to only two points for the first 13 and a half minutes of the second half after switching to a zone defense. The Red Storm took the lead for the first time at 28-27 with 4:18 to play, and then again at 31-29 on a pair of Hartley free throws with 50.9 seconds left.

The lead lasted seven seconds, however, as Sevigny, who had already hit a deep jumper to tie the game at 29 with 2:18 to go, splashed a 3-pointer on the next possession.

Sevigny, who finished with six points, tried to block out the size of the moment.

“My feet were set. Honestly, that’s all I thought about,” she said. “The time didn’t matter to me. I just shot it because I was confident in it. Everything went blank during those shots.”

Sanford Coach Rossie Kearson had a good feeling when he saw Sevigny lining up.

“I always tell her, I know when her shot is going in,” he said. “When she can catch it and the feet are set and she squares, more than likely, that shot’s going down.”

The game didn’t make it to the finish line without a double dose of drama. On the ensuing Scarborough possession, a call that a Red Storm pass went out of bounds with 27.7 seconds left was changed to being out on Sanford, allowing Scarborough to maintain possession. Eleven seconds later, Hartley battled through a collapsing defense for a layup, but the officials called the travel as Giordano put his hands on his head in disbelief.

“Definitely a character-builder, heart-stopper, whatever you want to call it,” said Kearson, who got nine points from Paige Sevigny and seven rebounds from Hailey Tarbox. “They’re a tough team. They’re a mirror image of ourselves. We were fortunate enough that we played through it to the end.”

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