Richmond-Burton‘s Luke Robinson let a shot fly from the top of the circle as the final seconds ticked off the clock.

Robinson’s 3-pointer went in, making Friday’s Class 2A Johnsburg Regional final against the host Skyhawks a one-possession game.

Without any timeouts left for R-B, Johnsburg took its time getting the ball in. Inbounder Josh Kaunas held onto the ball, never letting go, and the Rockets never got another chance.

Johnsburg held on to defeat R-B 56-53 and earn its first regional title since 2019. R-B, looking for its first regional championship since 2006, was left wondering if it was denied a shot.

It was unclear exactly how much time was left after Robinson’s 3, his second in as many possessions and fifth of the game, went through the hoop.

Johnsburg’s fans spilled out onto the court to celebrate and, after a brief moment of confusion, the refs allowed the game to end.

“I looked up and I know for sure I saw at least 5.9 (seconds) on the clock,” said Robinson, who led all players Friday with 26 points. “I saw Josh Kaunas down there with the ball in his hands. You know, we’d have to watch it on film, but I’d have to think that was a five-second violation. To say the least, the refs missed that one. Cut our season short.”

Skyhawks coach Mike Toussaint felt the Rockets’ chances of getting another shot off was slim.

“We talked in the huddle, even if we throw (the ball) in there, it’s going to be hard for them to get a steal, throw it out, hit a 3,” Toussaint said. “It would have been less than a second. When I looked up, I saw 6 (seconds). We told [Kaunas] don’t even grab it.”

The wild ending was even more surprising after Johnsburg (22-11) got off to a dominant start, scoring the game’s first 10 points and taking a 19-9 lead after one quarter.

Kaunas, a 6-foot-5 junior guard, scored the first seven points, opening the game with a 3 and throwing down a two-handed dunk in front of the Skyhawks’ student section.

The slam got Johnsburg’s side fired up, while R-B, which turned the ball over on its first three possessions, was forced to call an early timeout.

“It was a huge crowd, and I just wanted to play my best and make a statement,” said Kaunas, who had 10 first-quarter points and finished with 13. “We’ve been working hard for this.”

“One of our keys was get the first bucket, and get a fast start,” Toussaint added. “Get the crowd in the game, get in going. It takes a wind out of a team. (Kaunas) is a heck of a player. He can do it all. Defensively he’s super tough. I really, really like him.”

Johnsburg won its two regular-season games against R-B by an average of 26.5 points, but the Skyhawks didn’t expect that same cushion in a postseason game.

Junior guard Gavin Radmer broke his wrist and elbow in the game right before R-B’s first game against Johnsburg, and for the second matchup the Rockets were missing key players because of illness.

“We knew they weren’t 25 points better than us, we knew we could play with them,” R-B coach Rich Petska said. “They came out and proved that tonight.”

The Rockets (20-10) trailed by as many as 13 in the first half but chipped away at the Skyhawks’ lead late in the second quarter and early in the third. Robinson, a 6-5 senior, scored the final five points of the first half. R-B trailed 30-24 heading into the third.

Robinson made a 3 right out of the half and Radmer (eight points, two 3s) added a steal and layup right after to cut the Skyhawks’ lead to 30-29. Johnsburg pushed its lead back up to 10, but R-B, led by Robinson’s 10 fourth-quarter points, kept clawing back.

Johnsburg had an off-night from long range but made 9 of 12 free throws in the fourth as R-B was forced to foul. Trey Toussaint made 5 of 6 and Ashton Stern 3 of 4.

Senior guard Jarrel Albea (12 points) made a key steal late and also scored on a layup in the final quarter.

Johnsburg will face No. 3 Aurora Christian in a Mendota Sectional semifinal at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

“We stayed with what we do,” Albea said. “2-3 zone, attacking, shooting the ball well and hitting our open guys. ”It feels great. Guys stepped up this game. ... Not winning conference, we wanted to improve on that and accomplish even more and that’s what we did. We want to go downstate."

Jayce Schmitt tallied seven points and nine rebounds for Johnsburg, and Ryan Franze and Stern had five points apiece. Junior forward Jace Nelson scored 13 points and had nine rebounds for R-B.

Robinson, who finished his career as the Rockets’ all-time leading scorer and rebounder, went 0-10 against the Skyhawks over his four years.

“We fought through a lot of ups and downs,” Robinson said. “Our second-best player was hurt for a month, and I think at that time we went 10-2. We just fought through a lot of adversity, and I think that really showed the last month of the season. We came out here and played with them just fine. I think that was a good show of what we can do.”

Petska lauded his team’s toughness.

“You don’t get to coach kids like this often,” Petska said. “These kids are unflappable. They never backed down from anybody.”