Donovan 42, Westminster 40

SOMONAUK -- Westminster Christian's "Hoosiers" season found itself with a "Coach Carter" ending.

Trailing 42-40 to Donavan with just 10.2 seconds remaining in semifinal action of the Class 1A Somonauk sectional Wednesday, the stage was set for Warriors senior Tyler Beachler.

Beachler dribbled the length of the court, but could not convert his 12-foot jumper from the left side and fell to the floor as Donavan ended the most successful season the Warriors boys basketball team has seen with the 42-40 victory.

"We're hurting right now, but when the dust settles, what a thrills it was for me to coach these young men," Westminster Christian coach Bruce Firchau said. "This was a lot of fun. We're very much a family at Westminster Christian and we're hurting right now."

"The guy got my elbow and that's why I came up short," said Beachler, who had 16 points. "We can't put everything on that shot. We had way too many turnovers in the second half."

Westminster had a stretch of 4 straight turnovers in the fourth quarter. During that time, Donavan was able to turn a 34-26 deficit into a 38-37 advantage. It was the first time the Warriors had trailed since being down 11-10 late in the first quarter.

Beachler's sophomore brother Ryan had a chance to give the Warriors (20-9) a 41-all tie after making his first of 2 free throws to bring Westminster Christian to 41-40 with 15 seconds left.

After bouncing off the back of the rim twice and toying with the notion of going into the basket, Ryan Beachler's free throw was not good with the Wildcats' Coleman Charles grabbing the rebound.

Williams quickly kicked to ball out to Donavan junior Ben Hicks. Hicks was fouled by Tyler Beachler with 10.2 seconds left and split the free throws to put the Wildcats (27-3) ahead 42-40. Hicks' level of damage was not limited to his final free throws. The junior finished with 10 of his team-high 17 points in the fourth quarter. He was a perfect 3 of 3 in the fourth period, leading Donavan to finish 100 percent (5 of 5) from the floor in the final 8 minutes.

After going 1 of 5 from the floor in the first half, Hicks was 5 of 7 in the second half, scoring a total of 15 points.

"(Hicks) is an excellent player," Firchau said. "He took over in the fourth quarter."

Warriors' center Joel Benson had been the one controlling the game.

Led by a vibrant student cheering section, Donavan was unable to stop Benson for much of the game as he finished with 17 points. His efforts helped Westminster Christian grab a 34-28 lead after he scored on the Warriors first possession of the fourth quarter.

"We came out with a lot of energy and took it to them," Benson said.