And now, they find themselves playing in the Section VI, Class D Finals. The Eagles have the chance to win the Section VI Class D Final at Jamestown Community College tonight, when they take on the Sherman Wildcats (3-seed) at 5:15 p.m., after a stunning upset of the Panama Panthers in the Sectional Semifinals on Monday.

All it took was some Robinson heroics.

The 6-foot-5 senior had the tough task of guarding Panama superstar Cameron Barmore for the entirety of the game, and while Barmore still ended up with 23 points, Robinson didn’t look even remotely overmatched.

At times, he looked better.

OBSERVER File Photo North Collins’ Tyler Robinson (in green) releases the game-winning shot from half-court during Monday’s Class D Semifinal win over Panama in Jamestown.

“He’s not afraid of anybody,” said North Collins coach Jan Warren. “He will take the ball to anybody. He’s so physical and so strong.”

Robinson ended the game against Panama with 19 points, 17 rebounds, six blocks, and one highlight that most kids only dream of.

With his team down 46-44, and just three seconds left on the clock, North Collins had one last chance to make a play. And who else would they go to besides their star senior?

“We knew we had to get the ball to Tyler,” Warren said. “He wanted to make sure that, if that was his last game, the ball was in his hands.”

But as fate — and Robinson — would have it, Monday’s game wouldn’t be his last.

Fellow senior Christian Loretto got the ball to Robinson under his own basket. Robinson dribbled past a pair of Panama defenders up to just before half court, and let it go. The shot fell so true you’d have thought it was a layup.

One nothing-but-net half-courter later, and the Eagles find themselves playing in the Section VI Final, and Robinson finds himself with a highlight that gave him some extra attention at North Collins High School the next day.

“I probably watched it 20-25 times the next day,” Robinson said. “It might’ve even been more. The whole school saw it the next morning on the announcements, I felt famous.”

After several seasons that hadn’t gone the Eagles way, they finally find themselves in a position to hang a banner on their gymnasium wall. It’s their first real chance since 2004, which was the last time they had won a playoff game prior to their 58-50 win over Riverside in the Quarter Final of this year’s bracket.

That success starts with Robinson.

“He goes out with intent of playing every game as hard as he can,” Warren said. “He’ll leave everything out there. He comes to practice to get better, he improves his skills, and is always working on moves and doing different things. He loves playing, it’s just his heart. He’ll give whatever it takes.”

Robinson, who started on varsity five games into his sophomore season, has developed his own unique style of play, focusing on versatility.

“I realized freshman year on J.V. that I was one of tallest people in the league,” Robinson said. “I kind of created my own style. Obviously there are others that are tall and can shoot, but I wanted to be one of the guys that could be on the block and work there, or be outside and shoot the three.”

That skill set is something that Warren knows makes Robinson a nightmare for opposing defenses.

“The ability to step out and shoot makes him so tough,” Warren said. “When you start to step out and guard him, he puts the ball on the floor and goes by you. He also plays defense, he doesn’t back away, and he studies. He always wants to know what we’re up against.”

In his final season, Robinson has turned himself into the perfect storm of size, intelligence, skill, and work ethic that can make any team in March dangerous. And of course with the upset over Panama, the Eagles have already proven that.

Part of Robinson’s success comes from his football career. For this past football season, Robinson was named to the All-WNY First Team as a wide receiver, playing for Eden/North Collins. It was during football that Robinson noticed he had something special.

“Prior to this past season, I thought of myself as just another one of the good players,” Robinson said. “I wasn’t anything super special, but I had a game where I caught three touchdown passes. That really boosted my confidence and made me realize that I could do anything if I put my mind to it.”

While Warren thinks that Robinson’s play on the turf has led to his physical nature on the court, Robinson said the biggest thing that translated from the grid-iron to the hard wood was the leadership skills.

“I learned a lot from being a captain on the football team this year,” Robinson said. “I just transferred those skills to basketball.”

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The Eagles success this season goes beyond Robinson. The chemistry around the entire North Collins squad is something Warren hasn’t seen with his group of boys before. Warren, also North Collins’ softball coach, notices some similarities between this years basketball team and his old softball team.

“We went to states twice in softball,” Warren said. “One thing both that team and this team have in common is they love each other. They stick up for each other. They’re together off the court all the time, and have grown a strong bond as the season has gone on. They help each other out and communicate well.”

The chemistry is something Robinson noticed on the first day of practice this season.

“The last couple years we haven’t been a team,” Robinson said. “We were just kind of out there playing basketball. This year we came together on the first day of practice and you could tell we just meshed.”

That chemistry has shown all year. The Eagles current record of 11-11 is in spite of a six-game losing streak to begin the season. Even with that slide to begin the season, Warren told his team not to worry.

“I told them to focus on league play,” Warren said. “We’ve been in almost every game so far, our losses are so much closer. I’m so used to getting 30-40 pointed it’s not even funny. But this year is different.”

Following that six game slide, the Eagles went on a three-game winning streak, taking down Eden, Gowanda, and Catt./Little Valley, the last of which was their first league game. While the strength of those teams isn’t exactly a gauntlet, it was already a huge improvement over where they were last season. That winning streak was when Robinson knew this season was different.

“When we went on the three game winning streak, I could tell in those games the way we were playing and moving ball that something was different,” Robinson said. “Then we beat Franklinville later on, which showed this team wasn’t the same. This team was special.”

That win over Franklinville was the team’s fifth win of the season, and while they played the rest of the season nearly alternating wins and losses, the tone of the team was significantly different than what Warren was used to.

“I just told them right from the start that whatever they want to happen will happen,” Warren said. “If they go out there with the mentality that they’re going to get roughed up and lose, that’s what will happen. But if they believe they can beat whoever, that’s what can happen.”

The victory over Panama only solidifies how different the team is. Each of the previous two seasons, in first round of the Section VI Class D bracket, the Eagles travelled to Panama, and both times were “annihilated,” according to Warren. This year was obviously a different story.

“I think the last two years we went down there and just gave up,” Warren said. “I just have better team chemistry. It’s nowhere near then what it is now. Those teams didn’t play for each other. This one does. If they weren’t this tight, I don’t think they’d be doing this. This isn’t the same North Collins.”

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The Eagles have been putting in hard work all season and have gotten just about the best basketball any of the players on the team have ever played — Robinson included.

Freshman Matt Sweet is the Eagles second leading scorer this season, after spending all of last season playing on Modified. Senior Christian Loretto is “playing his best basketball right now,” according to his coach. Robinson has help down low as well, especially on the defensive end. Chris Smith, a sophomore, and Dominic Fricano, a junior, each stand over six feet tall, and are part of the defensive presence that has helped the Eagles get where they are.

“My assistant coach Tony Puntillo told Dom (Fricano) and Chris (Smith) before the Panama game that if they played the way they could, we’d be fine,” Warren said. “We had a game plan and they executed it and played really well.”

And the defense is where the team success has started. It’s the biggest difference in his team Warren has noticed from last season to this season.

“They’re playing great defense,” Warren said. “They’re causing turnovers out of the press, and they’re flying all over the place. For only having six main guys, they do pretty well. They’re really well conditioned.”

Those main six — Robinson, Loretto, Sweet, Fricano, Smith, and Mitchell Warsaw — have been the back bone for the newly-found success the Eagles have seen this season. And while Robinson doesn’t mind the recognition, he wants people to know the team behind him is the main reason for success.

“I love this team,” Robinson said. “As much as I like the attention, I wish it was more focused on them. I couldn’t have done it without them.”

While Robinson will miss out on the 1,000 point plateau for his career, he and the Eagles have the chance to do something much more special — win the Sectional Championship. Now that they’ve taken down Panama, Robinson thinks his team can do anything.

“We just have to go out there and do what we do,” Robinson said. “We gained a lot of confidence beating Panama. Beating them showed what this team can do.”

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