A Vikings-Falcons championship basketball game is not for the faint of heart.

At one moment, Wareham Vikings senior Stefan Monteiro can sink a 3-pointer a foot behind the arc with a follow-through as soft as your grandmother petting a poodle.

The Vikings now have a one-point lead.

At another moment, Dighton-Rehoboth Falcons guard Dylan Barbosa will take it straight to the hoop and throw something up that only the hand of God could sink.

It just went in -- the Falcons have a two point lead.

And so the South Division 3 quarter finals went. Wareham and Dighton-Rehoboth fought tooth and nail on March 2 under the at times deafening sound of a packed Wareham gymnasium, all the way to the 56-53 final score that will send the Vikings to the semi-finals against Cardinal Spellman High School of Brockton.

"It's a heart-attack game," said Michael Williams, basketball coach at Friends Academy in Dartmouth who was in Wareham to watch a few Viking players that practice with him, in addition to their school practices and homework load.

Hey, when does a Viking need to sleep?

Neither team earned a lead of more than a few basketball hoops in a game that had the Wareham and Dighton-Rehoboth fans alternately hollering in celebration or staring in worried disappointment.

"[It was] a very exciting game, this is what a tournament atmosphere is supposed to be like: a packed gym, both teams playing hard," Coach Kevin Brogioli said after the game was over.

Dighton-Rehoboth got on the boards with 2 points first in the game, only to have Stefan Monteiro, the second highest scorer of the night for Wareham with 15 points, answer back with a quick 3-pointer to give the Vikings the lead.

By the end of the first quarter, the score was a hard-fought 10-8 Wareham, with both sides hustling back to play solid defense, making it difficult for the other side to convert on turnovers.

Less then a minute into the second quarter, Wareham led 15-8 in one of the largest lead of the night, causing the Falcons to take a time-out to regroup and re-strategize.

Re-group and re-strategize they did, and Dighton-Rehoboth captains and seniors Dylan Barbosa, highest scorer for the Falcons with 15 points, and Derek Pinto, third-highest scorer at 13, started to turn the tide against the Vikings.

As the seconds trickled to 2 minutes left in the second quarter, Falcon forward Derek Pinto sank a crucial 3-pointer to bring the score to 22-19 and the Falcons within 3 points of the Vikings.

A gaining predator can make the prey miss its step, and the last two minutes saw 3 fouls and a traveling violation called on Wareham, not to mention a Falcon steal. The end of the first half had Dighton-Rehoboth leading at 24-22.

The second half was more skilled, hard basketball, with players on both teams displaying a calm under pressure that can only be honed with seasoned experience.

Viking junior Darien Fernandez, the highest scorer of the night at 17 points, started coming alive in the second half, stealing the ball and driving to the basket with characteristic boldness and skill.

"Darien doesn't lack in confidence, and I mean that in a good way," said Brogioli. "[And he's] unselfish and [can] give it up to someone else."

With three-and-a-half minutes left in the third quarter, Wareham took the lead 33-31, but continued to miss some of their 3-point chances.

So did the Falcons, however, and with the third-highest Wareham scorer on the night Mason Vasconcellos stepping up, Wareham had a razor-thin 38-37 lead by the end of the third quarter.

Leads are not meant to last in the regional championships, however, and Dighton-Rehoboth was back on top a few minutes into the quarter.

Fernandez kept pushing to the basket, unafraid to take responsibility when the stakes were so high.

"You've got to drive and pass it," said Fernandez about making points when they are most needed. "You just got to work harder. Just go get the ball and score."

Score they did, but foul they did as well. Wareham gave Dighton-Rehoboth a total of 15 shots from the free throw line throughout the game, 13 of which were baskets.

The lead changed hands repeatedly as one team scored a three or the other team went to the foul line. Wareham took the lead 1 minute into the fourth quarter, Dighton-Rehoboth took the lead 3 minutes in, Wareham leading at 4 minutes in, tied at 5 minutes in.

Every basket was followed by a roar from the crowd, and every player knew that it had come down to the wire. Wareham pulled ahead 53-50 with two and a half minutes left in the quarter, and all of a sudden, Dighton-Rehoboth became the prey.

The time outs added up on the Falcons side. With a minute left in the quarter, the Vikings led 53-51.

Monteiro, who lost his rhythm on his 3-pointers in the second half, looked like he was going to take a 3-pointer, but instead drove to the basket for a 2 point lay-up. Wareham 55, Dighton-Rehoboth 51.

With 11 seconds left on the clock, Wareham was up by 2. Repeated non-shooting fouls by the Falcons kept the Vikings passing the ball in from out-of-bounds.

In the last 8 seconds, Fernandez had to go out of the game with a minor bloody nose on a mistaken elbow from a teammate. The Vikings took a time out, Fernandez changed his shorts, and Brogioli sent him back in.

It was not to be for the Falcons. A foul on Aaron Baptiste, who has been shooting 89-90% from the free throw line all season according to Brogioli, gave the Vikings their final 56-53 lead. A valiant last-minute push from the Falcons, but the Vikings weren't ready to be out of the tournament yet.

Wareham won 56-53 over Dighton-Rehoboth. The Wareham Vikings, still undefeated at 22-0, will take on the 5th ranked Cardinal Spellman Cardinals on Wednesday for what is sure to be another "heart-attack game."