BROCKPORT — All season long, people have said that this year’s Maple Grove boys basketball squad is a great one, but it sure isn’t last year’s team.

That’s perfectly fine with the Red Dragons, because they’re going to the same place last year’s team went.

Thanks to a balanced effort from four double-figure scorers, Maple Grove took a big lead, withstood a big comeback, came up with big plays down the stretch to beat previously undefeated Charles Finney, 79-73, and reach the state’s biggest stage: the state championships in Glens Falls.

Glens Falls is where last year’s Maple Grove team won the Class C state championship, and while the Red Dragons moved down to Class D this year, they returned just one starter in second-team All- Western New York junior Chris Secky.

And while the 6-foot-2 Secky was outstanding with 16 points, nine rebounds and six assists, he got great help from his teammates. Five-foot-10 senior Dan Rivas scored 11 of his 18 points in the second half, 6-4 junior Kevin McElrath had 16 points and 5-10 senior Joe Caporale had 13 points and 10 assists.

“Everyone has been asking us if we’re the same as last year’s team but . . . we’re our own team and we just wanted to get back to Glens Falls,” said Secky, who also helped lead Maple Grove to the Class D state football title last fall. “There’s no feeling like getting back to Glens Falls.”

Maple Grove (21-3) will play Long Island champion Greenport (21-3) at 10 a. m. Friday in the Class D state semifinals at the Glens Falls Civic Center.

“This is a much different team and this team had to make its own presence, its own mark,” said Maple Grove coach Curt Fischer. “Everyone that said, ‘Oh, they’re not the same team.’ We knew we weren’t the same team. And they want to be their own team, and God willing they’ll come back with another title.”

Early on it looked as if Maple Grove would cruise down the Thruway with a blowout victory. The Red Dragons took a 49-32 lead at halftime, thanks to a 25-9 second quarter and a 64.5 field goal percentage (20 for 31).

Finney, a private school located in the Rochester suburb of Penfield and winner of Class D state championships in 2006 and 2007, came back with a third quarter that was even better than Maple Grove’s second. The Falcons (24-1) had a 27-9 quarter to take a 59-58 lead.

“Things went our way in that third quarter, then it was gut-check time for both teams,” said Finney coach Joe Marchand. “It was just a great finish, a great atmosphere.”

An exciting fourth quarter had a dose of drama when Secky went down in pain with 5:51 left, with Maple Grove leading, 65-63. He limped off the court and was substituted for; but it was just a cramping calf so he was back 26 seconds later.

With the score tied, Rivas hit a three-pointer from the right side to put Maple Grove up, 71-68, with 3:20 left. Rivas also hit both ends of a one-and-one to put the Red Dragons up, 75-70, with 36.8 seconds left.

“Normally we have Chris stepping up big, but he was hurting,” said Rivas. “I knew someone had to step up. Coach said you have to envision yourself as the hero. I envisioned that. I knew we could do this as a team. It wasn’t just one person.

“It’s a totally different team than last year, but we’re just as good I believe. There’s a lot of people out there that say that we can’t do this or we can’t do that, but I think we showed our true strength today.”