Hollis Brookline;s Dylan Kelley holds up the Division II title plaque as the Cavs beat Pelham 42-37 in Sunday's championship game at UNH. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

DURHAM – The three-and-a-half months season, the summer league play, the fall league play, the open gym work, all came down to a mere eight minutes.

The No. 1 Hollis Brookline Cavaliers, looking to lock down the Division II boys basketball title and the 21-0 record that would come with it, were deadlocked with the No. 2 pesky Pythons of Pelham at 31 with one quarter to go at the University of New Hampshire’s Lundholm Gym.

“It’s eight minutes of do or die,” Hollis Brookline senior Dylan Kelley said. “You’re either champs or your first loser.”

Well, the Cavs chose the former. Down 35-34 with 5:10 left, they outscored Pelham 8-2 en route to a 42-37 championship win.

It was a brawl.

“Just the general physicality,” said Cavs coach Ryan Kelley. “It’s one thing to prepare for it, but when you’re in it, it’s tough. … It is playoff basketball.”

They made four huge stops down the stretch, and that was the key after they were up 38-37, Pelham closing to within a point with a long range two-pointer by Pythons top scorer Brady O’Connor (11 points), his foot just on the line. The difference at the time for HB was an Alton Williams (game high 14 points) layup that had him crashing to the floor with 3:46 left.

Pelham missed a makeable trey, O’Connor was called for an offensive foul, Williams had a huge block, and, with 9.7 seconds left and the game at 40-37, the Python Brady Hegan stepped on the out of bounds line.

“Defense was the biggest thing that was going to win this game,” said HB’s Renzo Bergskaug, who had 13 points and three steals. “The offense was going to come. Defense was what brought us to get the offense going.”

“We wanted to play defense without fouling,” Williams said. “We went straight up. It worked.”

Finally, the Cavs could breathe easy when Williams calmly sank two free throws with 6.2 seconds left.

“Honestly, the pressure helped me a little bit,” Williams said. “Kind of calmed me down. I liked the pressure. I think pressure is a privilege. Coach says that a lot, and I feel like that helped us.”

Thoughts of what Williams did in those final moments brought a smile to his coach’s face.

“I’m so happy for Alton Williams,” Ryan Kelley said. “The culmination of all the little things he’s been trying to put into his game. The number of times they were on a break, they shot-fake and he stayed on the floor. We’ve been working on that for three years. And for him to put that together — that’s the reason he got a no-jump block, and for him to stay on his feet and stay under control and get possession. I’m so happy for him.”

“We got opportunities,” Pelham coach Joe Morin said. “He’s (Williams) a strong player, he’s the Player of the Year in our division for a reason. … When it comes to it, I’ll take my guys any day of the week.”

His guys overcame a 7-2 Cavs early lead to go on an 8-0 run for a 16-12 lead after one quarter, but HB nearly pitched a shutout in the second, going on an 11-0 run before Hegan made a 3-pointer with 45 seconds left in the half for Pelham’s only point in the frame. The seven-point lead for the Cavs and the four-point lead at the end of the first quarter for Pelham were the largest leads for either, and HB settled for a 23-19 lead into the break. That’s how much of a tug-of-war it was. There were 10 lead changes and the game was tied five times.

HB’s James Arthur drives to the hoop vs. Pelham’s Nick Giuffrida (20) and Nachi Nwabueze during Sunday’s Division II championship game in Durham. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

But the Cavs’ late stops in the final five minutes were huge.

“It as a huge energy swing,” Dylan Kelley said. “Everyone felt it. You could feel Pelham get (dejected) by that swing. We felt that lift us up and we were like ‘OK, this is the final push.'”

The numbers weren’t pretty, but HB enjoyed a 45-30 edge on the boards which was key. It offset the fact they were 1 of 16 from beyond the arc, and that was by Williams. HB shot overall 16 of 53 (30.2 percent) and Pelham was slightly better, 15 of 46 (32.6 percent). But the Pythons were outscored 9-3 at the line.

And now the moment they were pointing to all season, but especially after going 18-0 in the regular season, happened.

“We did it,” Dylan Kelley said. “We got the last energy and we made it happen.”

“Words can’t describe it,” Williams said. “We’ve been working to get here for a really long time, and it feels good to finally just get it done.”

The Hollis Brookline Cavaliers celebrate their Division II boys hoop title s the final buzzer sounds at UNH’s Lundholm Gym. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)