The replay was used to make sure that the Jets’ Seth Polfus had made the game-winning basket before the final buzzer for an 84-83 double-overtime victory over Southfield Christian in the MHSAA Class D semifinals.

The victory by the 27-0, two-time defending champs came over the team that had won the three Class D championships before that.

It also puts NC into the state title game at 10 a.m. Saturday back at MSU against Buckley (26-0). Buckley defeated Lansing Christian 68-61 in Thursday’s nightcap.

On the game-winning play, Polfus momentarily lost control of a pass from Dawson Bilski, but retrieved it and calmly hoisted a shot from about eight feet left of the lane as the clock raced to zero. The video review confirmed there was about two-tenths of a second remaining when he released the ball.

Seth Polfus of North Central dives to retrieve the ball he lost while dribbling near the baseline in the first overtime on Thursday at Michigan State University in East Lansing. He saved the ball to help set up a 3-point basket by Jason Whitens with about 7 seconds left to force a second overtime. The Jets beat Southfield Christian 84-83. (Escanaba Daily Press photo by Dennis Grall)

When Polfus initially made the shot, the Jets began screaming and leaping for joy, only to learn within seconds that a video replay was necessary to determine if the basket would count.

After the review when the announcer said the shot beat the clock, the Jets really launched into a celebration.

“What they have accomplished is pretty incredible,” a stunned Southfield Christian coach Josh Baker said at the postgame news conference.

“It was a great game, a great fight,” said Brock Washington, an Eagles’ all-stater and one of five teammates to score in double figures. “We tried to pressure the wings and someone (Polfus) got behind us.”

Washington gave Southfield Christian (21-6) an 83-82 lead with 8.1 seconds left in the second OT when he buried a 3-pointer from just left of the key. The Jets quickly raced upcourt and were forced to adjust when the Eagles had both wing options covered and left Bilski atop the key with the ball as the final seconds ticked down.

He found that Polfus, the team’s No. 5 scorer, had slipped behind the defense and rifled a pass to him. It was a tad low and Polfus had trouble finding the handle until the last breath of time remained and he hoisted a prayer.

“Looking at it live, it looked like the ball left his hand in plenty of time,” said a drained NC coach Adam Mercier. “The kids matched their intensity and athleticism with extreme grittiness. Dawson made a heads-up play. Dawson has great floor vision. It is one of those situations where a guy makes a play.”

There were a ton of plays throughout, with the Jets playing from behind for much of regulation. They led 31-30 at halftime but had to score the final five points of the first half to get there.

They yielded six triples in the first half, with Southfield’s Harlond Beverly draining 4 of 7 beyond the arc.

The Eagles, who only hit three more triples after intermission, seemed ready to pull away when they used a 10-2 third-quarter burst for a 43-35 lead. That moved to 49-39 with 2:08 left in the period before then the Jets showed their grittiness.

Bilski and Bobby Kleiman hit triples to fuel a closing 14-4 flurry that tied the game at 53-53 entering the fourth.

That helped the defending champs make a bid to take charge in the final eight minutes of regulation, opening a 64-59 lead on Kleiman’s basket with 4:17 left. But the Jets suddenly went frigid at the free-throw line, missing the front end of two bonus situations and 3 of 5 in a stretch of 1:45.

The Eagles also amped up the pressure with their overall quickness and forced several turnovers, forging a 68-67 lead when Beverly stole the ball and passed to Bryce Washington, who finished with a thunderous dunk.

Bryce Washington was the Southfield Christian player who shared Associated Press Class D Player of the Year honors with North Central’s Jason Whitens.

Whitens then hit two free throws with 16.2 seconds left to put the Jets back on top 69-68, but Beverly forced the first overtime by hitting the 1 of 2 free throws with 6.2 seconds to go. Whitens missed a 10-footer from the left wing at the buzzer.

The Eagles took a 75-71 lead with 1:56 left in the OT No. 1, with Caleb Hunter’s exquisite ball handling and darting penetration accounting for all six points. Whitens then kept a missed NC shot alive by tapping it to Kleiman, who hit a clutch basket with 1:21 left.

Elijah Hicks hit the front end of a bonus free throw for the Eagles, who led 76-73 with 37.4 seconds left and putting North Central’s title hopes in serious trouble. But Polfus narrowly retrieved his loose dribble at the baseline and the Jets used a timeout with 28.2 seconds left to set up a final prayer, which Whitens answered with a massive triple just right of the key with 7 seconds to go.

Whitens sent the Jets ahead to start the second extra session, but Hunter and Bryce Washington scored 18 seconds apart for an 80-78 Eagles’ lead. Bilski kept the Jets’ chances alive when he blocked a shot by Hunter with 2:02 left, but the Jets again could not capitalize at the charity stripe, going 3 of 6 over the final 1:52 for an 82-80 lead.

Brock Washington’s triple with 8 seconds left appeared to doom the Jets, who simply refuse to give up in even the darkest moments.

Now the Jets face another major challenge as they try to bounce back from an epic encounter to seek a third straight championship.

“We’ll try to keep riding it, but we’ve got to come down from this victory in a quick way,” said Mercier. “We had to be gritty and resilient tonight.”

The Jets used just six players, with Whitens getting 31 points, Bilski 23 and Kleiman 14. North Central hit 29 of 65 field goals and held a 43-42 rebounding edge, with Bilski getting 12 and Whitens 10.

All five Eagles reached double digits, with Bryce Washington scoring 23 and Beverly 22. They hit 31 of 76 field goals and had 12 steals.