The Alvirne girls basketball team celebrates its win over Winnacunnet that gives the Broncos the last spot in the upcoming Division I tournament Wednesday in Hudson. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

HUDSON – Call it the Magic of Senior Night.

Seriously, honoring the six Bronco seniors in a lavish ceremony with a large crowd got the Alvirne High School girls basketball team off to a great start in what was an unofficial play-in game vs. Winnacunnet at the C.J. Steckevicz Gym Wednesday night.

The Broncos, on a high, stormed out to a 7-0 lead against the Warriors and never trailed en route to a 40-31 win. The triumph has both 6-12 teams tied for the 16th and final Division I tourney spot, and Alvirne wins the head-to-head tiebreaker.

“That’s the good thing about coaching a lot of these kids in middle school,” Alvirne coach Frank Girginis said. “When we were in middle school, we always called it the Magic of Eighth Grade Day. And then when I took over the job here, it was the Magic of Senior Night. We can go down the years and the years and the years. There’s always something magical that happens on Eighth Grade Night and Senior Night. And we were talking about it – they played their best basketball at the most pivotal time.”

To say it hadn’t been the easiest of seasons for the Broncos is an understatement. At one point they were an uncharacteristic 2-9 but they went 4-3 down the stretch and that was good enough.

“It’s a great win for us,” said Lexi Floyd, one of six Alvirne seniors who led the Broncos with 14 points. “And I feel like with everything we’ve been through, it’s a great opportunity to show everyone what we can do.”

Of course it only gets harder for the Broncos, as their reward is likely having to go up to Concord Monday night to face top seed Concord Christian, who beat them 52-27 there just a week ago.

But that’s a few days away. In this one, Alvirne led 12-6 after one, and survived a sluggish second quarter with just two points but still led 14-11 at the half in a game that might have set a record for possession tie-ups.

“Alvirne took the win, they’re very aggressive, and we battled hard and had our chances to make shots,” Warriors coach Brian Gray said. “It was a playoff atmosphere that we’re not going to get a chance for (later). I’m proud of the way these girls battled. … It’s sad to see it end this way, but it is what it is.”

The third quarter was when the game was really decided. Floyd and sophomore Adrienne Chipfunde hit a huge 3’s that put the Broncos up 28-16 and with 2:28 left in the period. Floyd capped it with a layup in the final 20 seconds that put Alvirne up 31-18 at quarter’s end. The closest Winnacunnet got was nine the rest of the way. Kaila Roy led the Warriors with 11 points and Izabel Turcotte added nine.

Chipfunde finished with eight points, and the Broncos also got a big fourth quarter hoop and seven blocks from freshman Ochanya Adikwu.

Alvirne’s Isabelle Haven-Tate (12) and Winnacunnet’s Julie Allan battle for a rebound during Wednesday’s win-and-in regular season finale in Hudson. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

“I knew this year I needed to get the underclassmen prepared for this stretch run,” Girginis said. “And I think you it paid dividends today. Those two and all of them (Isabelle Haven-Tate, Taliah Kraus and Brooke Carter are the others) played a massive part in the game today. And we couldn’t have done it without them.”

Girginis had been pointing at the significance of this game, rescheduled a couple of times, for over a week. The euphoric feeling after all their struggles could be summed up in one word for the Broncos.

“Gratifying,” Girginis said. “Having faith in what we do. I had to push these guys, and they had to trust me.They gave me that trust, and it paid dividends.

“It was one of those crazy games. Everything that we talked tonight about, it came to fruition.”

Like magic.