For 31 minutes, he provided everything for Sherman.

All that remained in the final 60 seconds was an exclamation point.

The Wildcats’ senior provided that as well.

With No. 2 Sherman clinging to a four-point lead with 13.5 seconds remaining, Ferranto caught a long inbounds pass from teammate Gabe Kopta and raced toward the rim before finishing with a two-handed dunk to seal the Wildcats’ 56-50 win over No. 3 Forestville inside the Physical Education Complex.

Forestville’s Manny Sanchez (1) passes to a teammate during Monday’s Section VI Class D semifinal basketball game at Jamestown Community College’s Physical Education Complex. Looking on is Sherman’s Cal Cook (4). P-J photo by Steve Garvey

“We talked about it before the game. This is why you work so hard — for this,” Sherman head coach Cory Emory said was his message to the team, including Ferranto. “Don’t be nervous, go out there and just play your heart out. He played a whale of a game.”

Ferranto’s final line: 32 points — including 16-of-17 shooting from the foul line — to go along with 16 rebounds and four assists.

“He’s a phenomenal player. … One of the great things he does is get to the free-throw line. He shot more free throws than we took (as a team),” Silver Creek head coach Ralph Jackson said. “If you are going to do that to a player like that and give him all those easy shots, and you are not going to get to the free-throw line at all, it’s going to be tough to beat somebody.”

The six-point win sends Sherman into Saturday’s 6 p.m. final against rival Clymer, Class D’s No. 1 seed, back at JCC. The Pirates beat No. 4 Panama 53-46 in Monday’s first semifinal.

“Backyard brawl,” Emory said of playing Clymer. “We wouldn’t want it any other way.”

The Wildcats jumped out to a 17-7 lead after an efficient first quarter and maintained a 25-16 advantage at halftime before the Hornets found their footing after the break.

“We were a little stagnant on offense. We weren’t moving as well as we could,” Jackson said. “We had some good looks that just didn’t go in.”

Forestville made more buckets than Sherman in the third quarter, but Kopta and Cal Cook hit 3-pointers, and coupled with Ferranto’s 11 points, the Wildcats led 43-31 entering the final eight minutes.

“I have other guys who can score,” Emory said, “but (Ferranto) has to get a touch because then it creates.”

Forestville refused to go away. Patrick Reilly scored 5 points on back-to-back possessions and Dom Anders added 4 points on the Hornets’ next two trips to make it a three-point game with 4:48 remaining.

“We knew that they were going to make a run. We have been in a lot of close games this year. We kind of understood that it was just another close game,” Emory said. “Get a good possession and then when you get your chance at the free-throw line, take advantage of it.”

Emory spent a timeout to calm things down and Sherman responded with baskets from Troy Chambers and Ferranto on its next two trips to push its advantage back up to seven.

“Whenever we’d go on a run, they would hit a couple of shots,” Jackson said.

Manny Sanchez hit a corner 3-pointer for Forestville to make it 50-46, but the Hornets missed a 3-point attempt and a shot inside on their next two possessions. Ferranto then hit four free throws over the next 20 seconds to make it 54-47 before Reilly’s 3-pointer with 13.5 seconds left.

After a timeout, Kopta ran the baseline before finding a streaking Ferranto just past half-court. After a couple of dribbles, he rose up and put down a two-handed stuff, effectively ending Forestville’s season and giving the Wildcats an opportunity to win the 14th sectional title in program history Saturday against Clymer.

“I wasn’t trying to get him a dunk, I was just trying to get him loose. I knew if we just threw it up, he would come down with the ball,” Emory said. ” … Little did I know it was going to be a dunk.

“It’s for everything on Saturday,” the longtime coach added of the sectional final, “so it will be a fun one.”

NOTES: Kopta had 10 points, three rebounds and two assists while Troy Chambers had 7 points and 10 rebounds for Sherman, which shot 18 of 46 from the field, including 3 of 12 from 3-point range, and turned the ball over 15 times. … Reilly had 13 points, five rebounds, two blocked shots and two assists; William Duliba had 10 points and five assists; Blake Waterman had 7 points and eight rebounds; and Jack Spengler had 5 points, 12 rebounds and three blocked shots for Forestville, which shot 19 of 64 from the field, including 7 of 31 from 3-point range, and turned the ball over just seven times.

FORESTVILLE (50)

Sanchez 2 1 6, Spengler 2 1 5, DAnders 2 0 5, JAnders 2 0 4, Reilly 5 0 13, Waterman 3 1 7, Mescall 0 0 0, Duliba 3 2 10, Mills 0 0 0. Totals 19 5 50.

SHERMAN (56)

Kopta 4 0 10, Cook 2 0 5, Chambers 3 1 7, Goree 0 0 0, Persons 1 0 2, Johnson 0 0 0, Ferranto 8 16 32. Totals 18 17 56.

3-point goals–Sanchez, DAnders, Reilly 3, Duliba 2, Kopta 2, Cook.

Forestville 7 9 15 19 — 50

Sherman 17 8 18 13 — 56