For the better part of two quarters, No. 8 Genoa-Kingston was leading No. 9 Aurora Central Catholic on Monday night in a Class 2A Rock Falls quarterfinal.

Chargers forward Braden Dillon drained a 3-pointer to put them ahead midway through the fourth, then about 90 seconds later a 3-pointer by Nick Czerak gave them a lead they wouldn’t give back in a 65-62 road win.

“We never give up as a team,” said Dillon, who scored a game-high 21 points. “We always play hard to the end, even if we’re down.”

The win moves the Chargers (13-19) into the semifinals at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Rock Falls. They’ll face Mendota (26-5) in a rematch of last year’s Princeton Regional quarterfinal, a 50-29 win for the Trojans.

The Cogs (11-20) were in control early thanks to a 21-point second quarter and led by as much as seven in the first half. They led 46-42 after three, but Dillon’s 3 with 4:51 left put the Chargers up 51-49.

Kash Sunderlage hit a 3-pointer for the Cogs with 4:01 left to give them the lead back, 54-53. They got a stop defensively, but Leo Corral came up with one of his five steals, which led to Czerak’s 3-pointer with 3:30 left and a 56-54 lead.

The Cogs turned the ball over six times in the fourth quarter, two of those leading to 3-pointers. Dillon’s 3-pointer was off a turnover as well.

“Turnovers just lead to easy baskets,” G-K coach Griffin McNeal said. “The other way, we’re not set on defense. ... [Czerak] had four points at half and he ended with 19, and most of that damage was in the fourth quarter. The turnovers make playing offense a lot easier.”

After a Corral steal led to a layup for Czerak, Blake Ides splashed home a 3-pointer with 1:29 left to cut the Chargers’ lead to 60-59, but the Cogs only had two team fouls and it took them about 50 seconds to get Czerak to the line.

He hit both free throws, Cody Cravatta missed a 3-pointer for G-K and the Chargers held on.

“All year long it’s taken us a quarter or two to warm up,” ACC coach Josh Izzo said. “It’s almost like we have to start down 10 and then it’s like guys, we have to fight harder now. But this group has battled up and down all year, winning games.”

Czerak scored 13 points in the fourth quarter. Dillon also added a team-best six rebounds.

The Chargers were struggling with turnovers early, helping the Cogs build their lead. ACC turned it over 21 times in the game but just three in the fourth quarter.

“A lot of the turnovers were unforced, I think maybe the guys were nervous,” Izzo said. “But that’s kind of been our thing where we struggle with easy decisions right away.”

Cravatta came off the bench and led the Cogs with 13 points. His two 3-pointers in the second quarter helped them take the lead. Conner Harney, who finished with 10 points and four rebounds, hit a 3-pointer with 4:01 left in the second that gave the Cogs a lead they held until the fourth quarter.

Ides had 12 points, while Jack Peterson had 10 points, seven rebounds and three steals. Sunderlage added 10 points.

McNeal said given the inexperience of his team he’s proud of the way the team competed this season.

“You don’t come into a year and say let’s go win 11 games,” McNeal said. “We lost our top three scorers and really all of our varsity minutes from last year. So we knew it was going to be a challenge coming into this year. But the guys really stepped up.”