When Ricardo Barsesa’s three-point attempt dropped early in the fourth quarter Friday night, it brought the host Mariner Tritons to within five points of the top-seeded and state-ranked Fort Myers Green Wave.

It also ignited one of the loudest crowd roars heard in quite some time at Frank Morris Memorial Gymnasium.

Perhaps surprising to some, the Tritons were putting up some fight in the District 4A-11 Tournament championship game on their home floor.

Over the final seven minutes, the Green Wave once again proved their superiority in the district, capturing the title with a 74-62 victory.

Both teams advance to the state playoffs. For the runner-up Tritons, it’s their first trip since 2003.

“I got the best group of kids in the world,” Mariner coach James Harris said. “We could’ve given up at any point, but we weren’t going to, that’s not our makeup, but when you get that close it becomes that much more painful.”

The Tritons (20-8) await the winner of Saturday’s 4A-12 championship game between Golden Gate and Naples, while Wave (23-5) hosts the runner-up from that district.

Fort Myers is on a bit of a run in district play, capturing the last four titles in 5A-15 before adding the first year of the newly aligned 4A-11.

The Wave, ranked No. 1 in the state Class 4A poll, are trying to reach the state final four for the first time since 2003. They’ve won every district game the past five years, more often than not in runaway fashion.

They needed to focus in and execute some key possessions late to hold off the Tritons.

“Mariner played a great game tonight,” Fort Myers coach Scott Guttery said. “They came out and played aggressive and hard, you could tell those kids wanted it really bad. It took us awhile to match it.”

Barsesa scored 18 points to lead the Tritons, and fellow senior Kameron Beach chipped in with 15 points. Fort Myers senior Buddy McClendon sank four three-pointers and finished with a game-high 24 points.

Mariner took an aggressive approach from the opening tip and constantly drove in for shots. Despite the effort, they finished only 3-of-16 from the field in the opening quarter.

The Tritons led 9-7, but the Wave picked up their defensive pressure, which helped build a 19-11 lead by the end of the opening quarter.

It appeared the Wave might pull away late in the first half, leading 40-26, but the Tritons scored the last five points, including a put-back by Clint Johnson, cutting it to 40-31.

The intensity reached its highest level late in the third quarter when both teams wrestled for a loose ball. That carried over to the start of the fourth. Barsesa’s three-pointer cut the deficit to 52-47 with about seven minutes to play, but Fort Myers’ Matt Yance quickly answered with a three.

It became mostly a half-court game from that point on and the Tritons were unable to knock down a few three-pointers they seemingly had to have with time becoming a factor.

The Wave also executed offensively in the half-court. McClendon drove the lane for a basket with 2:30 left, which extended the lead to 66-57.

Mariner’s Harrison Kuchman answered with a three to cut it to six with 1:54 left, but the Wave pushed the margin back to 12 on late free throws.

“We did a good job contesting shots down the stretch,” Guttery said. “Other than that we have to do a better job protecting the paint. We have been great defensively all year, but we gave up a lot of shots in the paint tonight.”

The Tritons weren’t able to take full advantage of those opportunities. They missed several shots driving to the basket, and finished 6-of-20 from behind the arc.

“The game was separated by probably five possessions max,” Harris said. “We have to make better decisions and execute a little better, but give them credit they’re one of the best teams in the state.”

Mariner 11 20 13 18 – 62

Fort Myers 19 21 12 22 – 74

Mariner (62) – Beach 15, Barsesa 18, Kuchman 6, Rivera 6, Guerrier 7, Emmons 4, Johnson 6. Totals: 23-61 10-16 62.

3PG – Beach 2, Barsesa 2, Kuchman 2.

Fort Myers (74) – McClendon 24, Graham 9, Henry 5, Manning 13, Yance 11, Celestin 3, Joseph 9. Totals: 26-57 16-24 74.

3PG – McClendon 4, Yance 2.