Mohegan — Moises Pagan sat behind the bench Saturday night. Actually, he fidgeted. He tried to pace. Like the betting man waiting for the horse race to begin. He played with his phone. He couldn't bear to watch sometimes.

This is what happens when you have two daughters playing for the state championship in front of more people than they'd ever seen, inside the passion pit otherwise known as Mohegan Sun Arena, whose rattle and hum had never, ever been like this for a girls' basketball game.

And when it was over, Moises Pagan cried.

His wife, Carmen, cried.

His daughter, Tai, cried.

His daughter, India, cried.

Tears of joy.

Coming straight from the heart.

"I think I need a defibrillator," Moises was saying, after his girls, Tai and Indy, helped New London High win its second championship in the last four years, a 42-36 tractor pull over Trumbull.

They're a show unto themselves, those Pagans. The best of the 06320. Tight, proud, loyal, diligent. And to have seen their faces and the embraces after the game is to have seen the culmination of the dream and the magic of the way sports unite us.

"It's just incredible," Tai Pagan was saying, a few seconds after bear-hugging teammate Spencer Roman. "I never thought I'd see the day. To see India work so hard, do all she does, get frustrated with the refs, to see what she goes through. I can't wait to talk to her when I get home. She helped me grow as a player. Always encouraged me to do my best. The last two years have been incredible."

India Pagan's season-long story hasn't ever come without the words "Stony Brook." Good reason. She's going there next year to play Division I women's basketball. But India Pagan's story is so much more. Her soul is tied to the events of Saturday night, winning a championship with her sister, catching glimpses of her mom during the game. This wasn't about a scholarship. This was about family and its forever connection to basketball.

"An amazing feeling," India said. "Not everyone can say they won a state championship with their little sister. We have a hoop outside our house and we always post up each other. We play at my mom's school at Jennings (Carmen Pagan is a popular teacher there). There's always a competition between us. Mom sent me a text today saying she'd be wearing red if she needed to spot me and if I needed anything."

"What did you need in the middle of the game?" she was asked.

"Sometimes," India said, "I just needed to look at her."

Tai said, "Our parents are always there for us. Sometimes, they're a little crazy. But I'm so, so thankful for them."

There were times the Pagans were more fun to watch than the game, which was awash in turnovers (43), miserable officiating (38 fouls) and missed free throws (16).

"So nerve wracking," Moises said. "The girls knew this was their last year playing together. My youngest said she didn't want it to end. She kept saying, 'we want to go to the Sun.' Now she can enjoy this with her sister for the rest of their lives."

Pretty hard to ignore how the rhythms of family that pulsate through the Pagans applied to the rest of the team. Maybe the most appealing part of the Whalers — the No. 1 Whalers now — all year was this: They were just a group of girls doing what friends always want to do — hang out, have fun, make fun of each other, be themselves, show off, and find some sort of conflict on which they could all be on the same side, which was the game in question.

And they rallied a school.

And a city.

Heck, even superintendent of schools Manny Rivera, decked out in green and gold, watched the celebration a few feet behind the bench.

"The families we have are terrific people," New London coach Holly Misto said. "The kids really care about each other. They play for each other."

And when they return to Conway Gym next year, they'll see another big, green banner on the wall. A family accomplishment, led by one of the great families of our city. Tai and Indy. Indy and Tai. Champs.

This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro