Boys basketball: Aurora Christian beats Pecatonica in OT, headed to state tournament

DEKALB – Aurora Christian trailed Pecatonica by nine points after the first eight minutes of play in the Class 1A Northern Illinois University Supersectional on 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.

The Eagles had trailed Pecatonica 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.

Once again, it would be history repeating itself for the Eagles. Aurora Christian held off a spirited Pecatonica effort for a 68-66 overtime win to earn a ticket to Thursday’s 11:15 a.m. state semifinal in Champaign.

The Eagles (25-8) 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 because of the 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. The run was capped by a pair of game-tying charity tosses by forward Cooper Hoffman that knotted things at 52 with 29 ticks left.

The Eagles 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.

Sophomore teammate Marshawn Cocroft expanded the lead to 62-57 on a successful tour in the paint with 48 seconds remaining.

Aurora Christian made 6-of-8 free throws the rest of the way for enough cushion to survive Brody Black’s 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Cocroft’s 21 points shared game-high honors with Hoffman. Baumann added 15 points 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 seven rebounds and fellow third-year squad mate Jaxon Diedrich had 11 points and 13 rebounds for a Pecatonica team that finished with a 31-6 record. That earned Pecatonica its 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.”

https://www.dailyherald.com/20240304/boys-basketball/aurora-christians-ot-win-sends-eagles-to-1a-state-tournament/