MILFORD-The Milford boys basketball team all but assured themselves their first Tri-Valley division title since 2001 with an impressive, 68-58 victory over Gilbertsville-Mt. Upton Friday night.

The victory, coupled with Worcester's home loss to Laurens, clinched at least a tie for the T-V East title. The Wildcats could have clinched the league with a home win over Schenevus last night. Milford and Worcester meet Friday, Jan. 27 in Milford.

Friday's game against was a possible preview of the Feb. 11 T-V Championship Game at Oneonta State, and the Wildcats jumped to an early 15-2 lead, with every starter getting into the scoring column.

"I thought we had great energy, and we really couldn't have played much better to start the game," said Milford head coach Frank Spurchise. "But we knew they were too good a team not to get back in it."

The Raiders scored the final seven points of the quarter, and slowly chipped away at the lead for the rest of the half, closing to within one point at 24-23 when Joel Christian, who scored 11 of 13 points in the first half, hit a pair of free throws and a lay-up.

G-MU made a defensive stop and had the ball with five seconds remaining, but Milford sophomore guard Ron Alston (15 points) made a steal at halfcourt and drove for an easy basket to give the Wildcats a three point halftime lead at 26-23.

"That was one of the biggest plays of the game," Spurchise said. "It gave us a lot of momentum back."

As it had in the first half, Milford began the second half strong, beginning with a Philip Schultes lay-up on a nice feed in the lane from teammate Kyle Hogan, followed by an Alston three-pointer from the corner.

Hogan added another three-pointer and made another nice pass in the lane, this one to Kurt Lutz, as the Wildcats went up 38-27. Lutz (10 points) scored again at the third quarter buzzer after rebounding a missed foul shot for a 46-33 Milford lead after three quarters.

The Wildcats were patient on offense in the fourth quarter, electing to take time off the clock rather than score, and the Raiders never got closer than 10 points the rest of the way.

Milford, 11-1 overall, 7-0 in T-V play, host Cherry Valley-Springfield Friday night and Stamford Monday in a non-league contest. Milford will host Franklin, who is tied with G-MU for the first place in the West, on Thursday, Feb. 2.

Note: Milford appeared in seven straight Tri-Valley Championship Games from 1995 to 2001, but this would be the first for Spurchise since he took over the coaching reins from Bill Crowley in 2002.

In a rematch of last year's T-V title game won by the Lady Wildcats, G-MU pounded Milford 46-19 on Friday night. The Lady Wildcats never scored more than six points in any quarter, and trailed 25-9 at halftime.

Milford now trails first place Worcester in the Tri-Valley East by three games, and the teams meet Jan. 27 in Worcester.