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BOSTON - The mother of all garden parties is now right around the corner.

The Wareham High School Vikings have a date with destiny on Monday as the newly crowned Division 3 South Section champions will play for all the marbles - a shot at playing in the state championship game - on the parquet floor of TD Bank North Garden.

“We’re playing on Monday at the garden,” said Wareham Head Coach Kevin Brogioli. “I like the sound of that.”

As well he should. His Vikings earned this in every sense of the word following their 76-71 victory over top-seeded Cardinal Spelling at a rocking Clark Arena Saturday afternoon at UMass-Boston. Now Wareham will face Bedford, the North Sectional champions, at 4:15 p.m. on Monday on a floor that elevated the Boston Celtics to the 2007 NBA Championship.

    “It feels so good,” said junior guard Jules Tavares, who tallied his 1,000^th career point right before halftime. “We were ready to play. We played like a team. Everyone did their role. And now we’re playing at the garden.”
   Wareham improved to 23-1 with the victory, but it was anything but easy. With senior center Ryan Pina battling foul trouble trying to contain Cardinal Spellmen's sophomore senation Joe Glynn (24 power-points in the paint), the Vikings had to fight off run after run throughout the game.
    "Every time we get ahead by 10 they would chip the lead away," Brogioli said.
    It appeared Wareham was about to ice the game in the final minutes as Brockton's Cardinal Spellmen began fouling to preserve time. But a flurry of missed free throws by Wareham gave C-S hope until the very end.
   "We'll be practicing free throws tomorrow," Brogioli said, the smile sticking to his face.
   Although there were contributions throughout the Wareham lineup, the final curtain call belonged to Tavares, who scored a game-high 27 points on a wide array of jumpers and spinning lay-ups, not to mention a thunderous dunk midway through the third quarter that left the Wareham faithful delirious in the bleachers.
    "Jules has had an up-and-down season for us," Briogioli said. "He saved his best for last."
    Did he ever. Every time the Cardinals would make a run, Tavares took matters into his own hands, driving furiously to the basket to kiss another two points off the glass.
    "I saw the openings, but this was a team-effort," Tavares said.
    Wareham led at halftime, 42-32, mixing up man-to-man pressure with a 1-2-2 zone. The Vikings also unleashed full-court traps at times to keep the ball away from Glynn as much as possible. But after Spellemen's Paul Pitts and Mike Patti began finding open-looks on the parimeter, Brogioli stuck more to man-to-man pressure.
    It works as well as could be expected. Spellman came into the game as the tournament's top seed for a reason - they went 22-1 heading into Saturday because of a tremendous inside-out game which leaves opponents to pick their poison - get beat by Glynn or watch Patti and Pitts repeatedly deliver 3-pointers from a different zip code. Briogioli decided on secret option number three - distrupt the Cardinal offense with quick traps that sped up the tempo of the game and led to many Wareham open-court baskets.
   But the Cardinals quickly regained their composure after a little half-time chat by coach Michael Perry on the virtues of keeping your cool when a section title is on the line. Cardinal Spellmen responded accordingly, cutting Wareham's lead to four after an 8-2 run to open the third quarter.
    "We knew they would come out at halftime and try to set the tone," Brogioli said.
    The Vikings, however, don't rattle that easily. Senior forward Pat Murphy parted the Cardinal sea with a tough drive. After Patti responded with a three-point play to cut the lead to 46-43, Tavares went baseline before Glynn knew what just blew past him.
    After Wareham's Darren Gray hit a pair of free throws, the Vikings turned up the heat once again, forcing an over-and-back violation. Wareham pushed it up quickly, and Jordan Rezendes' lay-up gave the Vikings a 52-43 cushion.
    A few seconds later, following another Cardinal Spellmen turnover, Tavares found nothing between him, the ball, and an unguarded Cardinals rim.
    Scheduled time for liftoff: T-minus three seconds and counting.
    "That really got the fans riled up," Brogioli said of Tavares' monster semi-cradle jam.
    "I got up a little," Tavares said in the understatement of the day.
    But Cardinal Spellmen wasn't interested in rolling over. Trailing 62-52 heading into the fourth quarter, the Cardinals took advantage of the quick whistles of the refs and began hitting a bevy of free throws. Then Spellmen senior back-up center Jesse Andrerson went to work, pounding away at the offensive glass for four quick points. Paired with Gynn, the Cardinals suddenly went for bulk to offset Wareham's speed and athleticism.
    Not liking what he was seeing, Brogioli called a 20-second time out with 3:10 remaining in the game and his Vikings leading, 71-64.
    The teams traded baskets until the Cardinals pulled within five, 71-66. With just three seconds on the shot clock and 56 second left in the game, Wareham called time out. After Rezendes set up from three, the Cardinals foolishly fouled him, giving one of the best players in Wareham history three shots from the free throw line. Rezendes hit two of them to extend the lead to 73-66.
    Rezendes had a chance to add two more from the line about 20 seconds later, but missed them both. After Pitts drained a 3-pointer from the corner, the Cardinals cut the advantage to four, 73-69.
    Brogioli's head looked like it was about to explode in front of 1,000 people after Tavares missed two straight from the line. But Wareham's defense tightened up, and Cardinal Spellmen could get no closer.
    Rezendes scored 15 points for Wareham. Murphy added 11, please some tremendous open-court defense.
    "This is what basketball is all about," Tavares said. "We're playing at the garden."