Asa Johnson, Aurora Christian storm past Martin Ledbetter, Hinckley-Big Rock for sectional title

SOMONAUK – This season has been a tumultuous up-and-down ride for the Aurora Christian boys basketball team, so it only makes sense that its sectional championship game was also a roller coaster.

The Eagles twice had to come back from double digits against Hinckley-Big Rock on Friday in the Class 1A Somonauk Sectional final, holding on for a 57-54 victory.

“We’re a smooth team throughout everything,” said Asa Johnson, who was 6 for 10 on 3-point shots for the Eagles. “We’re very calm. ... If we have adversity against us we act like nothing happened and keep on fighting back.”

[ Photos: Hinckley-Big Rock boys basketball loses heartbreaker to Aurora Christian in sectional final ]

Johnson finished with 20 points to lead the Eagles in scoring, including draining his final 3-pointer of the game with 1:54 left to put the Eagles ahead for good, 53-51.

The Royals had a chance to tie in the final minute as Max Hintzsche missed a jumper but Martin Ledbetter grabbed the offensive rebound, his 19th and final board of the game. But as he tried to drive through traffic, James Baker picked up his third steal of the game.

“We had control of the game and then they started making some shots and we turned it over a little bit,” Royals coach Seth Sanderson said. “Obviously, you want every possession back in a game like this but we felt like if we could have stopped one of their two big runs we would have been OK.”

Hintzsche completed a three-point play with 22.7 seconds left to draw the Royals to within one, but Jacob Baumann hit a pair of free throws to push the lead to 54-51 with 20.9 seconds left.

Hintzsche hurled up a 3 that missed and the rebound went out of bounds to Aurora Christian with 2.7 seconds left. They tried a football pass down court, but Ledbetter intercepted it, dribbled to halfway between the halfcourt stripe and the 3-point line and fired a shot. But it bounced off the back of the rim as time expired.

Aurora Christian coach Dan Beebe said it’s been a whirlwind season, but that’s to be expected out of a team that has one senior and no senior starters.

“These kids are fighters,” Beebe said. “You try to teach them life in basketball. You’re going to get knocked down a lot in life. Get up. We’ve been knocked down a lot this season and the past couple of games. ... We figured out a way, scratched and clawed and won a game.”

Ledbetter finished with 23 points and 19 boards. At one point in the second quarter he had more points and rebounds than Aurora Christian had as a team as the Royals built a 27-13 lead.

But the Eagles rattled off the next 11 points in 1:14, all off Royals turnovers. H-BR turned the ball over 16 times, leading to 18 points for the Eagles.

“They’re already looking to push in transition,” Sanderson said. “You give them that running start out of a turnover. ... We have to take care of the ball, get back in transition. ... They did a good job in transition of making us pay for those turnovers.”

Midway through the third the Royals built the lead back to 44-33, but the Eagles scored the next 10, then took their first lead of the game at 46-45 with 32.8 seconds left on a 3-pointer by Johnson.

Beebe said Johnson had been struggling since the start of the postseason, but he was proud of the way the 6-foot-4 junior forward hit the gym and practiced shooting.

“I kind of had confidence and kept shooting it,” Johnson said. “I kind of told myself that they kind of need me. But also, I can be a big boost, I guess. It really helps the bench and our team with a lot of energy.”

The Eagles reached the supersectional round for the second straight year and for the third time in the last five postseasons. They’ll face Eastland at 6 p.m. Monday in the Class 1A NIU Supersectional with a trip to state on the line.

Jordan Weeks had a team-best six rebounds and no blocks for the Eagles but did not score. Preston Morel scored 14 and Baumann 10.

Luke Badal scored 13 for the Royals and Hintzsche scored 11. H-BR finished 1 of 8 on 3-point attempts.

Sanderson said he was thankful for the season, which was the first time since 1998 the Royals reached a sectional final.

“I think with Max and Martin healthy we had 53 wins in two years,” Sanderson said. “It’s tough to ask for much more out of them.”

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