Burlington Central’s boys golf team knew its target number long before Monday’s Class 3A Buffalo Grove Sectional and zeroed in on it.

Unfortunately for the Rockets, uncharacteristically, they then barely missed their target on the 18th hole. Barely missed once, barely missed twice, barely missed too many times.

That’s all it took to deny Central a trip to state for the third year in a row.

“We’ve been talking about 305 all year,” coach Tom Davies said after his Rockets shot a 308 at Buffalo Grove Golf Course, two shots behind third-place Barrington (306), which earned the final state spot.

Stevenson (304) won the sectional title and Hersey (305) was second.

“We’ve been saying 305 is our number we need to have a whiff at state,” Davies said. “We were right there.”

Central, which qualified for state in Class 2A the past two seasons and finished third last fall, saw its top three scorers Monday play the par-4 18th hole in four-over par.

“It’s definitely a bummer,” said senior Tyler Samaan, who will be the lone Central golfer playing at state after firing a 1-under 71 on the nearly 6,700-yard layout to tie for third place, one shot behind medalist Rayden Tee of Fremd and Barrington’ Sam Uutala.

Samaan placed 11th in Class 2A last year.

“Not going with the team is going to be a little bit of a different trip for me,” Samaan said. “All I can I do is just go out there, play my game, see what I can do and bring back some hardware.”

Hampshire senior Nolan Adamczyk and Jacobs sophomore Logan Henning each shot 73 and will tee it up Friday at The Den at Fox Creek Golf Course in Bloomington.

Adamczyk wore a big smile after his round. He gave up basketball after his freshman year to concentrate on golf, then just missed qualifying for state as a sophomore and junior.

“The last couple of years, to come up just short and be so close, this is such a relief,” Adamczyk said. “I’m just so proud I could get [downstate] after all the practice. All the work paid off.”

It looked like all of Central’s hard work this season would pay off too. But junior Tommy Wyse (78) double-bogeyed No. 18 after hitting his tee shot into a hazard. Junior Matthew Zierk (76) bogeyed the hole and then Samaan couldn’t get up and down after hitting his approach shot from 190 yards out over the green.

“I was going to hit a 7-iron but took a 6-iron,” said Samaan, who birdied the par-5 second and 16th holes as well as the par-4 15th. “There was a big tree in my way, so I had to hit a little fade. I just pulled it a little bit.”

It was only his second bogey all day (par-4 10th).

“It’s definitely a hard finishing hole,” Samaan said of the 431-yard 18th, which includes a creek to carry on the approach shot. “You can’t be mad at the kids. There was pressure on the line. We can always wish for a better result, but it’s all right.”

Central also counted sophomore Evan Sarallo’s 83. Senior Devin Hughes and junior Colin Gritzman shot 87 and 91, respectively, for the Rockets.

“They played so well,” Davies said of his golfers. “Our top four knew they had zero strokes to give away, and then Ty [Samaan] birdied [No.] 16, so I really thought they were going to do it.”

“We were the underdogs coming into this, and we were top three pretty much the whole day,” Samaan said. “[On] 18, it just slipped away, barely.”

Adamczyk’s 1-over round (tie for sixth) included a couple of long par-saving putts and birdies on Nos. 2 and 16.

“I just kept it consistent throughout the round,” Adamczyk said. “I didn’t try anything crazy. I just played my game. I played a little aggressive, but I kept it in play and kept hitting greens.”

Huntley (319, eighth) was led by senior Austin Matich’s 78. Seniors Jack Policheri and Nick Marmot shot matching 80s, and the Red Raiders also counted senior Gray Birkmeier’s 81.

“A few holes were pretty tight,” Policheri said. “A lot of the greens had some pretty big slopes. If they put the pin in a tough spot, it was hard to make a lot of putts. When it’s breaking so much, you got to try to make it through the side door.”

Hampshire (325, tie for ninth) also counted junior Nic Iverson’s 83, sophomore Will Harkin’s 84 and senior Riley Kagel’s 85.

The 1-over round of Jacobs’ Henning included five bogeys and four birdies.