AMHERST - Lindsay Gondek had always dreamed about making a game-winning 3-pointer.

On Tuesday night, the Smith Academy senior guard had to settle for a game-winning layup.

With 8.6 seconds remaining in a tied game, Alyssa Klepacki grabbed a defensive rebound and quickly found Gondek on the right sideline. Gondek raced down the court and beat the defense to the basket.

She flicked in a right-handed layup off the backboard and into the net just before time expired to give the Falcons a 45-43 win over Sabis in the Western Massachusetts Division 3 Tournament semifinals at the Curry Hicks Cage.

"I don't really remember much," said Gondek, who finished with a game-high 17 points, four rebounds and four steals. "When I got the ball, I looked up and saw that there wasn't much time left. I just decided to go as fast as I could and put (a shot up). Luckily, it went in."

The basket propelled No. 2 Smith Academy (20-2) to its first sectional final game since 2002 when it beat Lee for the western Massachusetts title. The Falcons will try to turn the trick again, as they will face the perennial powerhouse and top-seeded Wildcats (21-1) in the final at the Cage at 10:45 a.m. Saturday

Lee, which has won 17 Division 3 titles and six of the last seven, showed off one of its best teams ever in the earlier semifinal Thursday, knocking off No. 5 Ware (17-6) 72-45 in a game that wasn't even that close.

"We have nothing to lose," Smith coach Ted Wilcox said. "We're not the No. 1 seed. Everyone will expect Lee to win just like I think a lot of people thought Sabis would win (on Tuesday). Lee is a great team, but I know one thing. Our kids will play as hard as they can."

Smith did not trail the entire game Tuesday and led 42-36 with 5 minutes, 53 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.

But the offense struggled with turnovers from that point, giving the ball away seven times over the next 5:15 and allowing the No. 3 Bulldogs (18-4) to even the score when Taevosha Rentas (nine points) put back a Jaimee Collins miss with 1:06 remaining.

"Our passing really let us down. You can guess what we'll be working on in practice" on Wednesday," Wilcox said.

After both teams came up scoreless on a possession, Smith Academy took a time-out with 26.1 seconds remaining and set up a play. Gondek was fouled with 16.4 seconds left and went to the line for a 1-and-1. She made the first and missed the second to take a 43-42 lead.

Sabis then took a time-out and freshman standout Jazmine Collins (nine points) drew a foul with 8.2 seconds left. She made the first and missed the second, which was corralled by Klepacki (five points, six rebounds) and immediately passed to Gondek, who zipped down the court for the game-winner. "This means so much to the team," said Gondek, whose program went just 3-17 two years ago. "We haven't been to the Cage since 2004. A lot of people don't think of us as a basketball school."

Junior Allison Slysz finished with seven points, six rebounds and five assists off the bench for Smith, which was forced to show off its depth in the first half.

Starting post players Abeni Davies (six points, six rebounds) and Klepacki both sat with three fouls and an 18-15 lead with 3:34 left in the first half.

But with bench players senior Katie Yarrows, sophomore Amanda Hebert, freshman Nicole Gay and Slysz joining Gondek on the court, the team pushed its lead to 27-18 going into halftime.

"To see the way Amanda, Nicole and Katie came off the bench, good for them," Wilcox said. "And they didn't just keep us in the game, they increased the lead. They had a huge impact for us."

Jim Pignatiello can be reached at jpignatiello@gazettenet.com. For more information, including a high school sports blog, go to www.gazettenet.com/hs-sports.