It was certainly a week for super special finishes

The stages were significantly different. But the parallels were indeed strikingly similar.

Between Medical Lake's Golden Feather Spirit Game win over Cheney and the Seattle Seahawks' 28-22 overtime victory in the NFC title game versus Green Bay last Sunday, the two contests featured head-turning comebacks by the home team that will be remembered for years.

Last Wednesday night, heading into the fourth quarter and trailing 29-19, the Medical Lake Cardinals were given up for dead by some of their followers who jammed the gym on Baker Street. And not long into the final period it got worse as the Cards trailed the Blackhawks by 14 points, 33-19 with 5 minutes, 17 seconds to play.

Then Sunday at sometimes sunny, most times rainy, and unusually quiet CenturyLink Field, the Seahawks, too, were given up for dead.

The Seattle offense was sterile, but the defense stellar as usual. They stopped the Packers three times in the red zone, one on a Richard Sherman interception and twice ending in Mason Crosby field goals. A great trade points-wise all things considered.

Fast forward through more futility with the Seahawks trailing 19-7 with 5:03 to play, Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson was intercepted for the fourth time, this one by Packers' safety, Morgan Burnett.

That did it for some of the high-roller 12s who exited the debacle in need of the nearest corner painkiller establishment.

But in each case, as the seconds clicked away, both the Cardinals and Seahawks caught fire.

A 17-2 run over the final five minutes by Medical Lake, capped by jersey No. 3, Cory Wagner's 20-foot jumper from the left wing that swished through the net with a single second left powered the Cardinals past the rival Blackhawks.

"That felt great, no pressure at all," Wagner said as he emerged from a crowd of well-wishers and after a celebratory ride around the gym on the shoulders of Medical Lake students. "I was shooting it no matter what."

Defense turned things around for the Cardinals.

"We decided to go full court (press) and see what happens," ML head coach Arnold Brown said. "I thought it wore them down a little."

Meanwhile, back down in SoDo, Seattle's bend-but-not-break and likely exhausted defense kept Burnett's pick from doing any damage and stopped Green Bay on a three and out that sliced just 1:12 from the clock.

Seven plays, 69 yards and 1:43 later that other jersey No. 3 stepped into the end zone untouched from a yard out, closing it to 19-14.

Then came the mandatory onsides kick, a maneuver scout.com say the odds of success are somewhere between 10 and 20 percent.

Steven Hauschka's pooch sailed high over the up men and boinked off Brandon Bostwick's helmet and into the waiting arms of Chris Mathews, giving the ball to Seattle at the Green Bay 35. Four plays later and 44 seconds later, Marshawn Lynch angled towards the end zone from 24 yards out to give Seattle its first lead, 22-19, following the 2-point conversion with 1:25 to play.

The 16-point comeback was the largest ever in a conference title game. The final few minutes returned things to their usual jet engine roar at the Clink.

Seattle's defense, which drove 'em down the stretch from a 3-3 start to a 14-4 finish and a return to the Super Bowl, did what they needed to do - again - holding the Packers to their fourth field goal with 1:11 left and sent the game into overtime tied 22-22.

Their run of good luck continued as Matthews and his No. 13 jersey were part of Seattle's win in the coin toss. Six plays later and 1:41 into OT, Wilson delivered the winner 35-yards to former UW Husky Jerome Kearse.

It was the one pass intended for Kearse that did nsdot end up in a Packer defender hands.

The return trip to the Super Bowl is a special memory in itself for the Seahawks and their followers. But how they accomplished it, needing to have the embalming fluid sucked back out before they did, will make this season's NFC Championship even better than last year's nail-biter.

"It was so much heart, so much belief today," Seattle coach Pete Carroll said on cbsnews.com. "Somehow, somehow we pulled it out."

Funny how the feeling following that little old high school basketball game was similar.

"Anytime you can win in that fashion, that's worth three Spirit Games for us," Brown said. "For our guys they never gave up (and), kept believing."

Indeed, while the stages were significantly different the parallels were still striking.

Paul Delaney can be reached at [email protected].