MARION — Seven seconds remained in the summer when a bucket with a foul brought a roar to Silvershell Beach.

In the championship of the Embargo League, Ruby Room Salon led Cio’s Auto Detail nearly the entire way. Or, as the many spectators along sidelines at the court probably perceived it, the red team was beating the purple team for most of the season’s final game.

Cio’s Auto Detail trailed 31-24 after the first half. Then, with fewer than 10 seconds remaining, Nejohn Fortes skirted through three Ruby Room Salon players in homing pursuit of an offensive rebound. He dribbled once, planted, pivoted and laid the ball in fading from under the hoop to put purple ahead 60-59.

A foul committed as Fortes spun through the red bodies before the shot put him at the free throw line. He missed, but Luis Cortijo collected the rebound and was quickly fouled.

Yet another offensive rebound off Cortijo’s free throw grabbed by Davante Goodine-Rodriguez all but sealed it at the court behind the Marion beach.

A 17-year-old Tabor Academy student from New Bedford, Goodine-Rodriguez said Cio’s Auto Detail was “very lackadaisical” going into the Embargo League championship.  

“We had to definitely step up the focus, which we did at the end, which is why we were the ultimate victors,” Goodine-Rodriguez said. “The big thing that keeps us pushing at the end of the day is our hustle and grit.”

He said the team had “great chemistry” and “great camaraderie.”

“That’s what ultimately kept us going to win this game today,” Goodine-Rodriguez said. 

Aiden Smith received Most Valuable Player honors for a 24-point performance. Embargo League organizer Dylan Cantara presented a trophy. Cantara, Michael Pardo and Andrew Bellemare — who both played for Ruby Room Salon — founded the basketball league in 2021.

The players of Cio’s Auto Detail also won the championship last year and are 30-0 across two summers, according to Goodine-Rodriguez.

He said it was “a great feeling.”

“It definitely feels very good to accomplish something like that, especially in a very competitive league like this,” Goodine-Rodriguez said.