New London — The energy in the Williams School gymnasium Friday afternoon was such that all the while the girls' basketball team was wrapping up a 39-35 victory over Christian Heritage, nearly every person in the room was standing and cheering.

Claudia Pagnozzi-Schwam, a Williams sophomore, hit two clinching free throws with 11.1 seconds remaining after being fouled securing an offensive rebound. The boys' basketball team, waiting for its half of the doubleheader against Christian Heritage, was making much of the joyful noise.

The two-game set was the culmination of the school's "Childhood Cancer Awareness Week," with the proceeds to go to the "Mad About Madeline" foundation set up at Liberty Bank in honor of East Lyme 9-year-old Madeline Guarraia, who is fighting cancer for a third time.

Williams raised well over $1,000 during the week, including the donation of all four referees' salaries from Friday's games.

"In my three years here we've never had this kind of atmosphere," Williams athletic director Bern Macca said, looking around. "It's been a great week. You can feel the school spirit building on such a great cause. This is our highlight. I've never seen the gym this packed, this enthusiastic."

"She's a hero," Pagnozzi-Schwam said of Guarraia, who actually arrived home Friday after nearly a month-long stay at Yale-New Haven Hospital. "I think it's always important to play for ourselves, to play for our teammates ... but then you also think about the fact there are girls fighting through hard times."

It was, perhaps, just the inspiration the Williams girls needed. Christian Heritage went on an 11-0 run in the first half and later led by 10, 16-6 on a basket by Emma Grier.

But Beatrice Mills got things started for Williams by banking in a 3-point field goal. The Blues trailed by two at halftime, 22-20, and took a 25-24 lead early in the second half on another Mills 3.

The lead traded hands twice more before Williams took the lead for good on an offensive rebound converted by Amy Burzin with 8:01 to play. Williams, which trailed 29-25, wound up with a 37-29 lead with 12 straight points, capped by a bank shot from Mills.

Pagnozzi-Schwam finished with 14 points, 18 rebounds, three blocked shots, two assists and two steals. Mills had eight points, seven rebounds and six steals, Burzin seven points, six rebounds and five steals and Camryn Werbinski 13 rebounds. The Blues (2-7) started an eighth-grader, Audrey Matson, at point guard.

"We started last Wednesday with our first victory at Hyde and I told them if they play like they want it as badly as they wanted it in that game, there's nobody that can beat them," Williams girls' coach Eliza Smith said. "Definitively, (Friday) is the best we've played all season.

"This is an incredible night."

Some of the teams Williams played this week brought donations, as well. All the Williams boys' and girls' basketball players, in addition to the members of the swim team, bought black T-shirts depicting the "Mad About Madeline" tiger logo to wear as jerseys for the week.

On Friday, the Williams gym was decorated with posters commemorating the event. The school was selling T-shirts and snacks, as well as setting up a donation jar. The swim team was presented at halftime of the girls' game.

Macca said the school usually does a Play4theCure game to promote breast cancer awareness in the fall. When the event got pushed back to the winter, Macca brought up the idea of childhood cancer awareness.

Macca's daughter, Jennie, attends Oswegatchie Elementary School in Waterford, where Guarraia's mother Amie is a kindergarten teacher, and several other students at Williams have ties to the Guarraias through their communities, making it a natural fit to honor Maddie.

Christian Heritage topped the Williams boys 54-29 in the second game (Nick Bonner led the Blues with nine points and Harrison Hall had six.) But Williams coach Logan Kydd said he's never seen his team so "excited and ready to play" as they were after cheering on the girls' team.

"It was fantastic," Kydd said. "They came in extra early (to watch the girls). It's great when you have a crowd. We're hoping to be able to create more of that. ... We have a young team, a very young team (two seniors and one junior), but I'm looking forward to them developing."

v.fulkerson@theday.com

Twitter: @vickieattheday