OBSERVER Photo by Valory S. Isaacson Clymer’s Hunter Wassink, left, shoots over Sherman’s Derek Sears during Saturday’s Section VI Class D championship game in Clymer.

CLYMER — It required only a handful of steps to navigate.

Four or five is all.

But as Clymer boys basketball coach Irv King ascended the ladder underneath one of the baskets at the Pirates’ home gym Saturday afternoon, he was reminded of the longer journey his team had experienced in the last two months in the midst of a pandemic.

So after he cut the last strands of net from the rim, he turned to face his players and supporters, and then placed the twine around his neck. It’s a souvenir he’ll treasure forever, because it’s symbolic of what every team works so hard to achieve — a championship.

Led by 23 points, five rebounds and five assists from senior Hunter Wassink, No. 1 Clymer used a big second quarter to open a huge lead on its way to a 53-40 victory over No. 2 Sherman in the Section VI Class D title game.

The fact that the Pirates can’t advance any further — the New York State Public High School Athletic Association long since eliminated state playoffs in response to COVID-19 — didn’t diminish the significance of the accomplishment in King’s eyes.

“Is it special?” he asked rhetorically. “I don’t ever remember a time where anybody played a sectional championship on their home floor.”

“It was a chance to do something — in the 45 years I’ve been watching ball — that nobody would have a chance to do,” King added. “It’s a special moment to be in our confines.”

And were the confines ever friendly to the hosts in the second quarter.

Leading 12-7 after one, the Pirates (15-1) went on a 19-4 run in the final 6¢ minutes before halftime to open up a 34-13 advantage at the break. During that rally, Wassink accounted for 9 points, Micah Willink and Weston Hepler each had 4 and Bishop Kopta added 2. Armed with that sizeable lead, Clymer was never seriously challenged the rest of the way.

“I’m so pleased with how they performed,” King said. “It felt like we prepared and planned and, boy, they executed fantastic for me.”

The outcome was in stark contrast to the team’s two regular-season showdowns, which ended in a split and decided by a total of five points.

“It snowballed,” King said. “It went our way. … I certainly didn’t expect either team to pull away like that, and I certainly didn’t think I’d be fairly comfortable in the last few minutes.”

But that was the way it turned out.

“We couldn’t do anything right and they did everything right,” Sherman coach Cory Emory said. “Irv had his guys ready to play more than I had my guys ready to play. That’s on me.

“I don’t want to know our shooting percentage. I don’t know what it was, but it wasn’t very good,” Emory added. “We didn’t have many easy, open looks. Everything was pretty contested.”

King said he recalled the Wildcats doing the same thing to his team last season.

“We were in the quarterfinals and we lost by 30 or something. We talked all year how important that home-court advantage could be. In a year of COVID, one of the carrots that sat out there was the No. 1 seed and how you could host every (playoff) game.”

It was clear the Pirates felt right at home.

When the final buzzer sounded, they received their blue sectional championship patches and they posed for a team photo. Then, a ladder was brought on to the court and each Clymer player had the opportunity to cut off a piece of net as a keepsake. Fittingly, King was the last one to do the honors.

“Honestly, there will be a picture of this team that will probably have this mounted somehow with it at the house,” he said as the remainder of the net covered a portion of his necktie that had — appropriately — basketball images on it. “They’ve been a special group. In the year of COVID, we truly talked about every day just being a great day to play ball. That kind of became a motto.”

Playing “ball” will continue this week for members of both teams, only in a different sport.

“(Sunday) afternoon, six boys on this team and six boys on the (Sherman) team are going to be scrimmaging together in an intersquad game on the same (Clymer/Sherman/Panama) football team.”

But that would have to wait 24 hours.

The Clymer Volunteer Fire Department trucks were waiting outside the gym.

The celebration for the Pirates was just getting started.

NOTES: In addition to Wassink’s big game, Austin White chipped in with 9 points, and Bishop Kopta and Willink both had 6 for Clymer. … Keith Gormley led the Wildcats (13-3) with 12 points before fouling out; John Swabik had 10; and Elijah Kioko added 6. … Matthew White of Clymer and Derek Sears of Sherman were named the Character Athletes of the Game.

SHERMAN (40)

JoSwabik 5 0 10, Carris 2 0 4, Ayers 0 0 0, Hayes 0 0 0, Swan 2 1 5, Sears 1 0 3, Gormley 5 1 12, JaSwabik 0 0, Kioko 2 2 6, Meeder 0 0 0. Totals 17 4 40.

CLYMER (53)

BiKopta 3 0 6, Wassink 7 7 23, AWhite 3 0 9, Hepler 2 0 4, BlKopta 1 0 3, Shampoe 0 0 0, MWhite 1 0 2, McIntyre 0 0 0, OWhite 0 0 0, Willink 3 0 6, Battaglia 0 0 0. Totals 20 7 53.

3-point goals–Sears, Gormley, Wassink 2, AWhite 3, BlKopta.

Sherman 7 6 13 14 — 40

Clymer 12 22 8 11 — 53