BINGHAMTON-Before Saturday's Section Four Class D championship game against undefeated Davenport, Milford head coach Frank Spurchise said his team would have to play a perfect game in order to pull an upset.

He was half right.

After leading for most of the first half and trailing by one, 21-20, at halftime, Milford got an up close and personal view of how dominating Davenport can be in the second half of their 55-34 victory.

Davenport, 23-0, scored the first 11 points of the third quarter, spurred by a full court press that created turnover after turnover, and by the time the quarter was over held a 39-22 advantage. Milford managed just two points in the quarter, and rarely got the ball over half court to set up an offense.

"We played about the best basketball we are capable of in the first quarter, and everything was going according to plan, but then the wheels just fell off," Spurchise said. "Panic might be an overstatement, but we really seemed to tire in the second half and just couldn't do anything right."

Davenport advances to play in Saturday's state quarterfinal contest against Section Three Class D champion Copenhagen at Cortland State.

Milford, 19-3, did little wrong to start the game, led by senior center Scott Richards, who scored eight of his team-high 10 points in the first half and had all five of his blocked shots. The Wildcats led 12-7 after one quarter, and 16-11 with 4:40 remaining in the first half, but Davenport dominated from that point on.

"We have nothing to be ashamed of, and I'm proud of how this team responded after losing the Tri-Valley Championship Game," Spurchise said. "We played three really good games after that to get here."

Milford lost to Gilbertsville-Mt. Upton in an ugly T-V final, but bounced back to beat Laurens, Downsville and Hunter-Tannersville in sectionals to advance to their first Class D final since 1999.

"There a re a lot of teams who would have loved to play in this game and be in this position," Spurchise said. "We made it to the finals, and that's something these kids will always remember."

Milford will have a big rebuilding process next year, as all five starters-Richards, Kyle Hogan, Steve Kerr, Philip Schultes and Kurt Lutz-are seniors. Sixth man Ron Alston, a junior guard, will be the only returning player with any experience, but the Wildcats should get help from the junior varsity team which also won the Tri-Valley East this year.

"Between soccer and basketball we played a lot of games this year, and won a lot of games," Spurchise said. "This will be a class of kids that will be remembered."

Note: Davenport junior guard Dan Toombs scored the 1,000th point of his varsity career in the third quarter of Saturday's game. Toombs hit the mileston with a driving lefthand lay-up, and the game was stopped briefly as Davenport players and coaches congratulated him and an announcement was made....Davenport figures to be back in the final next year as well, as they start just one senior.