Aurora Christian’s OT win sends Eagles to 1A state tournament
Aurora Christian trailed Pecatonica by 9 points after the first eight minutes of play in the Class 1A Northern Illinois University Supersectional Monday.
But there was no sign of panic in Dan Beebe's club.
Not even when it lost a 10-point lead that led to an extra session for a ticket to the state tournament.
For the Eagles had trailed the same Pecatonica squad by 21 points at halftime during the holidays at the State Farm Classic in Bloomington before a second-half rally keyed a come-from-behind win.
And it would be once again history repeating itself for the Eagles as they held off a spirited Pecatonica effort 68-66 to earn that ticket to Thursday's 11:15 a.m. state semifinal in Champaign.
The Eagles will play Winchester Co-op (34-3), a 46-42 winner over Glasford Illini Bluffs (33-4) at the Jacksonville supersectional.
It's Aurora Christian's fourth final four appearance and first since the 2020 tourney which was not played due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“These are kids that have tremendous resiliency,” Beebe said. “They don't really get rattled. We have been down double-figures in three of our last four (postseason games). Unfortunately, they like to do that to us coaches, maybe. I think it says a lot about them in terms of the courage that they have, the work ethic they have and the teamwork they have not to get rattled.”
It was in full display for the near-capacity crowd at the NIU Convocation Center when Pecatonica's 13-3 run erased the Eagles’ 49-39 lead over the final five minutes of regulation. That run was capped off by a pair of game-tying charity tosses by forward Cooper Hoffman that knotted things at 52 with 29 ticks left.
The Eagles (25-8) gained the advantage for good thanks to a 3-pointer by sophomore guard Jacob Baumann with 1:06 left in overtime for a 60-57 lead.
Then sophomore teammate Marshawn Cocroft expanded the lead to 62-57 on a successful tour in the paint with: 48 remaining.
Aurora Christian made 6-of-8 free throws the rest of the way for enough cushion to survive Brody Black's 3 at the buzzer.
Cocroft's 21 points shared game-high honors with Hoffman while Baumann added 15 and fellow second-year Eagle Asa Johnson had 10 points and 10 rebounds.
“I never lost confidence in this team,” Cocroft said. “I knew that we had a good team (with) all the pieces to make a run to state. It feels great to have this opportunity.”
Junior Jordan Gassman had 12 points and 7 rebounds followed by his fellow third-year squad mate Jaxon Diedrich (11 points, 13 rebounds) for a Pecatonica unit that finished with a 31-6 record. That earned them their third straight Northwest Upstate Illinois North Division title and first Elite Eight appearance.
“Right now we're a little disappointed ,” Pecatonica coach Booby Heisler said. " Our ultimate goal was to bring home a state championship. Hats off to Aurora Christian. Credit to our kids who fought back numerous times. We will be proud of the effort and the performances they had this season.”