That prompted me to pull out a book I published in 2011 on the Red Raiders’ first trip to the North Country. As I flipped through the pages, one photo caught my eye. In the foreground, it captures Jamestown’s players celebrating after a made basket during the Section VI Class AA championship game against Niagara Falls at Buffalo State Sports Arena.

Upon closer inspection, the excitement apparently isn’t only reserved for those on the court. In the background, at one end of the Red Raiders’ bench, is 6-year-old Trey Drake, the team ballboy, who is wide-eyed with excitement. At the other end is Ben Drake,Trey’s dad and Jamestown’s head coach, his face contorted with emotion. And smack dab in the middle of the image — in the first row of seats behind the bench — is a man who appears to be letting out a primal roar.

Dan Drake, the late father to Ben and the late grandfather to Trey, loved Red Raiders basketball.

He loved his family even more.

So I can’t begin to imagine how he would have felt if he were sitting in that same location late last Saturday afternoon.

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The video making the rounds on Twitter over the weekend showed Trey, Jamestown’s junior shooting guard, receiving an inbounds pass with 3.6 seconds remaining in the third quarter of the Class AA Far West Regional at Buffalo State, taking one dribble, and launching a shot off one foot about 40 feet from the basket.

The ball never even hit the rim.

The 3-pointer — his third of the period on his way to 21 second-half points — gave the Red Raiders a 38-36 lead on their way to a 60-58 win over Aquinas of Section V, securing their trip to Cool Insuring Arena for the state semifinals this Friday night.

Taken by itself, one might suggest that Trey’s shot was lucky, but considering the events surrounding Jamestown’s biggest victory in eight years it can’t be dismissed as pure happenstance.

So as teammate Andre Maple wrapped his arm around Trey’s neck, the latter walked off the court, his right arm extended in the air and three fingers pointed toward the ceiling.

Rather ironic, considering that the nothing-but-the-bottom-of-the net attempt was one of several serendipitous events, before and after the game, that made “Trey’s trey” from nearly halfcourt seem predestined.

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Karen Drake, Ben’s wife and the mother of their six children, recently found a greeting card during routine house cleaning.

It was presented to Trey on his sixth birthday in July 2010.

On the front was a basketball.

Inside, was a hand-written note that read:

“We love you so much. You have so much talent. We look forward to watching you grow up and helping your dad win a lot of championships for the Red Raiders. We pray that Jesus always takes care of you. … Grandpa Drake.”

Fast-forward nearly a dozen years later to last Saturday night. Trey stood at the foul line with the Red Raiders leading Aquinas 59-58 with 1.6 seconds remaining. He’d already had a second half to remember, but in order to secure his team’s trip to the NYSPHSAA Final Four these free throws were critical.

The first attempt hit nothing but net.

When the second one rimmed out, Trey deflected the ball away from the Lil Irish player who was hoping for a rebound. When the horn sounded, the Red Raiders celebrated in almost the very spot on the same court where they celebrated against Niagara Falls 11 years earlier.

Except this time, Trey wasn’t the ballboy and “Grandpa Drake” wasn’t in his familiar spot behind the Jamestown bench.

“He would have loved this,” Ben Drake said of his father after Saturday’s win. “He was sitting in the front row all those years.”

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The matriarch of the family, Bonnie Drake is the proud parent of Ben and Julie, the grandmother of eight and a great-grandmother of one. Her family paid a visit to her home on Jamestown’s east side Monday night to celebrate her 71st birthday, which was also 10 years to the day since “Grandpa Drake” passed away.

“It’s hard to really wrap my head around it,” Trey said after Saturday’s win. “Obviously, his spirit was in the building with us tonight. I wish he was here to see that, because he would be on the sidelines cheering for us.”

Added Ben Drake: “God is good, man. It’s just a blessing. Just so many stories this weekend. We get to play another week and make that trip to Glens Falls. I can’t wait.”