And for a good reason, those cheers were ringing loudly, and it was thanks to Williamsport senior Payton Baney.

Once Mackenzie Perluke hit her second free throw, Williamsport knew the game would come down to its final possession with 14 seconds remaining. The Millionaires found Ella Wilson near the baseline, who had a good look for a shot, but the ball bounced off the rim. That’s where Baney came in.

Baney got the offensive board and quickly released a putback as time expired for the game-winning basket in an absolute thriller of a win, 50-49, over Wyoming Valley West in the District 2-4 Class 6A semifinals at the Magic Dome.

The win advances the Millionaires back to the district championship game on Monday at Mohegan Sun at 6 p.m. against top-seeded Hazleton, a 48-31 winner over Wilkes-Barre Area.

“We just were trying to play to score to get quickest shot we could. We had a play. The ball bounced around rim so many times I didn’t even know it was going back to me,” Baney said. “I didn’t even know the clock was running out. I was so in moment of the game that I didn’t know there were zero seconds left.”

Williamsport tied the game up twice in the fourth quarter. Once when Baney hit two free throws to make it a 45-45 game after she had a key block defensively. Then, 90 seconds later, Cici Rainier hit two free throws to make it a 47-47 game.

The Millionaires held a 48-47 lead with 26.4 seconds to play when Baney hit one of two free throws, but Wyoming Valley West went down and saw Perluke drill two enormous free throws for a 49-48 lead.

But Williamsport kept at it and knew what they wanted to do.

“When we saw the defense get back and they let us bring ball up, we decided to just let them play a play we run all the time,” Williamsport coach Justin Marnon said. “Ella got a great look, but just a matter of heart and determination and refusing to lose and Payton just goes after that offensive board and gets the put back.”

Williamsport had a total of three ties in the second half, but seemingly every time the Millionaires tied it, the Spartans responded with a shot or free throw to take the lead again and didn’t allow the momentum to swing away. But Williamsport never hung its heads or let it take the wind out of the Millionaires’ sails.

“We’ve been playing like that the whole season,” Tutler said.

The Millionaires grabbed just seven offensive rebounds all night, but none was bigger than Baney’s as time expired.

“We weren’t crashing quite as aggressive as we like to see. Pretty ironic to see game end on an offensive rebound and putback,” Marnon said. “Probably could have happened a little more throughout the game, but I’ll take it.”

Baney led Williamsport with a 20-point performance and Tutler added 17 points as the duo proved to be tough defensively for Wyoming Valley West to slow down.

MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Williamsport's Payton Baney (15) drives the ball down court after intercepting a pass to Wyoming Valley West's Anya Richet (25) in the first quarter.

“I don’t think any team has two post players like us. Whether one of us is having a good game or both of us is having a good game, I think we’re an unstoppable duo,” Baney said.

“They do feed off each other a lot and we’ve missed Jaelynn Helmrich as well. She can be kind of a third post for us, we tried to get her minutes and she’s coming off an injury and didn’t look 100%. But when those two are on the court together and they’re clicking like that, it’s a tough matchup,” Marnon said. “Both of them kept their composure for four quarters, played through that difficult defense they saw and they persevered. They were huge in the second half for us. They definitely feed off each other and see the court very well and are getting better at finishing around the rim.”

Wyoming Valley West held a 17-12 lead after the first quarter and Marnon and Williamsport knew they couldn’t keep up that pace all night offensively. But through the remainder of the game, Williamsport’s defense did just enough to disrupt the Spartans and keep the game within reach. Williamsport outscored Wyoming Valley West in the second quarter and held the Spartans to 24 second-half points.

“We knew that (Mackenzie Perluke and Thalia Irizarry) were going to be able to drive the ball to the basket. We wanted to win those 1-on-1 matchups a little more, but they beat us off the dribble. Perluke is a really good player, she finishes, she can shoot, she can drive, she gets other players involved,” Marnon said. “But it was really just a matter of our girls locking I defensively and playing team defense, winning the 1-on-1 matchups and their rebounding. You can force missed shots, but if you can’t rebound, it’s a wasted possession defensively.”

Perluke and Irizarry both were huge for the Spartans. Irizarry led Wyoming Valley West with 15 points and Perluke scored 14 points and also had a team-high five rebounds and two blocks. Gabbi Notvitski added eight and Anya Richet scored seven.

“We’ve been preparing to play them, especially those two. We knew they were the leading scorers. So just preparing before the game with practices,” Baney said.

WYOMING VALLEY WEST (49)

Allissa Laudenslager 0 0-0 0; Gabby Marsola 2 0-0 5; Gabbi Novitski 3 0-0 8; Mackenzie Perluke 4 5-6 14; Vega Bevan 0 0-0 0; Thalia Irizarry 3 6-8 15; Anya Richet 3 1-1 7. Totals 15 12-15 49.

WILLIAMSPORT (50)

Cici Rainier 0 2-2 2; Ella Wilson 1 4-4 6; Mia Nieto 1 0-0 3; Abby Mahon 0 0-0 0; Jaelyn Helmrich 1 0-0 2; Payton Baney 8 4-7 20; Nadirah Tutler 8 1-2 17. Totals 18 11-15 50.