Soaked with victory water, Woodstock coach Ryan Starnes emerged from his basketball team’s locker room and was greeted with one of the shortest hugs in human history.

“You’re wet!” 9-year-old Aubrey Starnes said to her dad, who barely got to hug back before his daughter backed off.

Fortunately for Coach Starnes and Woodstock, there would be no shortage of hugs or congratulations after the Blue Streaks rallied to beat host Johnsburg 50-47 Friday night in the teams’ Kishwaukee River Conference showdown.

Ryan Murray might have snagged the most hugs, congratulations, high fives, pats on the back and cheers.

A 5-foot-11 junior guard who has come off the bench all season, Murray knocked down two massive 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, including the game-winner with 44 seconds left to put Woodstock up 49-47.

“I feel if I’m open, I should shoot it because I have confidence in myself,” Murray said after shooting 2 for 3 from the floor, all from beyond arc, and finishing with six points. “I’m just glad that I was put in the position to shoot that shot. We knew we needed to win this game.”

The win for Woodstock (19-9, 11-2) forged a first-place tie with Johnsburg (19-11, 11-2). But because the Streaks swept the season series with the Skyhawks, they would be declared the KRC champions if they can beat Woodstock North at home Wednesday night. Johnsburg visits Harvard in its conference finale the same night.

Max Beard had 14 points and 10 rebounds for Woodstock, which beat Johnsburg, which has 36 wins the past two seasons, for the fifth time in a row. Even when the Skyhawks won the KRC two years ago, it was the Streaks who handed them their only conference loss, at Johnsburg.

“For some reason, I don’t know why, we take care of business everywhere else,” Skyhawks coach Mike Toussaint said. “I don’ get it. I don’t understand it. I feel like they get up to play us, and they beat us.”

Playing in front of a packed senior-night crowd that was loud throughout, the hosts used the inside scoring of Jayce Schmitt and an effective zone defense to bolt to a 22-12 lead after one quarter. The Skyhawks were up 24-12 with two minutes gone in the second.

“It was everything we wanted,” said Schmitt, who scored 11 of his team-high 15 points in the first quarter. “But we just didn’t execute on offense [the final three quarters].”

Liam Laidig (team-high 15 points, seven rebounds) put back his own miss, and JJ Stokes sank a line-drive 3 to commence Woodstock’s comeback. Beard buried his first three 3-point tries, including one in the second quarter, and the Streaks were within 29-22 by halftime.

The score remained tight the rest of the way, with Schmitt’s drive giving Johnsburg a 47-46 lead with 2:55 left in the fourth. Woodstock went almost three minutes without a basket before Murray found himself open to the right of the circle and, fearlessly, knocked down a 3.

“There’s a lot that people can learn from him,” Starnes said of Murray. “He was our seventh or eighth guy for a while there, and he just kept working. He kept at it. ... There was zero doubt in my mind that he was going to knock down that [3-pointer]. In fact, we drew up some plays for him down the stretch.”

Murray’s left-corner 3 pulled Woodstock to within 45-43 with 3:40 to go, and he was ready to deliver for his team again when he got another opportunity in the final minute.

“The defense was scrambled, and I had an open look,” Murray said.

Woodstock held Johnsburg to 25 points over the final three quarters. The Skyhawks missed three quality looks from beyond the arc down the stretch to take the lead or tie.

“Our offense just wasn’t going well,” said Schmitt, who also had nine rebounds and four steals. “We couldn’t really get to the rim that well. We just aren’t good against physical teams, and they were pretty physical on defense. I think our defense was pretty solid. It was just our offense that was killing us.”

Ashton Stern and Trey Toussaint (two 3-pointers) added 11 points each for Johnsburg, while Jarrel Albea had eight.

“We had a lot of adrenaline to start the game,” Mike Toussaint said.

Like Murray, Rian Hahn-Clifton scored six points on two 3s. Marc Thomas had six rebounds, four points and a blocked shot.

Woodstock’s fans stormed the court after the game.

“I’m proud of the guys,” Starnes said after his team’s fourth straight win and eighth in its past nine. “They put in the time. They put in the effort. They’ve worked their tails off for a long time. I just told them in the locker room that I’ve never seen guys more focused in two days over practice.”