Crunch time.

The nitty-gritty.

In sports, it’s the time of the game when things matter most. It’s when big-time plays materialize, and the game’s outcome comes to fruition.

Northern Lehigh’s Nick Seier recognized the situation and came up huge for the Bulldogs, as his coast-to-coast, left-handed finger roll trickled in before the buzzer to lift the ‘Dawgs to a 40-38 victory over Jim Thorpe in the Slatington Rotary Tournament championship game on Wednesday.

With the game tied at 38-apiece, the Olympians had possession with seven seconds remaining. A full-court pass was a little too strong, however, and the turnover yielded one last chance for the hosts to prevail.

Seier took the inbounds pass and drove up the left side of the floor, all the way to the hole for the decisive goal.

“I caught the ball and just kept going down the court,” said Seier. “Gio (Colon) got open. So when his defender went out to cover him, I saw a lane and I took it in ... and made it.”

The game went back-and-forth from the beginning, as there were eight lead changes and five ties before Seier’s game-winner.

Northern Lehigh held a comfortable 28-18 lead early in the third quarter. But, six turnovers led to a 13-0 run by Thorpe to close out the period, as the Olympians took a 31-28 lead into the fourth.

“At the end of the third, we were tired,” said Northern Lehigh coach Jeff Miller. “With back-to-back games, a short bench and being undersized, I told the kids (before the fourth quarter) that this game could go one of either two ways — we could pack it in for the night, or we could battle.

“I said to them, ‘I know you guys too well, I know you’re going to battle.’ And they did.”

The Olympian lead was quickly erased as four different Bulldogs scored to put them up 34-31 with 4:25 remaining.

A Justin Marykwas triple tied it, and Nathan Rosohac’s free throw gave Thorpe the temporary edge with just over three minutes to go.

A Colon jumper from the elbow put the ‘Dawgs back on top, before two free throws from Seier gave them a 38-35 lead.

Nick Rosohac’s three-pointer from the right side then knotted the game and set up the last-minute heroics.

“We had a couple of layups off of steals that we missed down the stretch, and those hurt,” Jim Thorpe head coach Jason McElmoyle said. “In games like these, you can’t make those mistakes and expect to win. But give Northern Lehigh credit because we didn’t have any easy shots tonight, and they made the big plays when it counted.”

Seier poured in 18 points to lead Northern Lehigh. For the Olympians, Marykwas had 13, while Nathan Rosahac added nine, before fouling out in the fourth.

“Our keys to the game tonight were to limit our turnovers, stop them in transition, and box out those bigger guys,” Miller said after the win. “I thought we did that enough to the extent to get the win. We may have been outrebounded in the game, but in the fourth period, I thought we did a better job of making the bigger plays when it counted.”

THORPE TAKES TWO ... The Jim Thorpe freshmen and JV teams both won Slatington Rotary Tournament titles.

THE VOTES ARE IN ... Palmerton’s Nate Dougherty, Jim Thorpe’s Marykwas and Nick Rosohac, and Northern Lehigh’s Colon and Seier were named to the all-tournament team. The Most Valuable Player Award went to the Bulldogs’ Preston Kemery.

MANY HAPPY RETURNS ... The Bulldogs are playing without two of their top players in Brandon Hess and Nate Keller. Hess remains sidelined with a serious concussion, but should return soon. Meanwhile, Keller suffered a slight tear in his right bicep muscle tissue, and is expected to miss a couple more weeks.

JIM THORPE

Searfoss 0-0-0-0, Burak 0-0-0-0, Spruill 1-1-2-3, Valdez 0-0-0-0, Foreman 2-1-2-6, Marykwas 5-0-0-13, Na. Rosahac 4-1-4-9, Ni. Rosahac 2-2-2-7. TOTALS: 14-5-10-38.

NORTHERN LEHIGH

Kemery 3-1-2-7, Colon 3-0-0-6, Schoff 2-0-0-5, Seier 6-5-7-18, Seiler 1-0-0-2, Berger 0-0-0-0, Moyer 1-0-1-2. TOTALS: 16-6-10-40.

Jim Thorpe 9 9 13 7 - 38

Northern Lehigh 15 9 4 12 - 40

Three pointers: Jim Thorpe - Marykwas 3, Foreman 1, Ni. Rosahac 1; Northern Lehigh - Seier 1, Schoff 1.