Cougars never quit; rally to beat Aurora Christian
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By KENT COULTAS
Chance Little scored 33 points as West Central rallied to beat Aurora Christian 70-65 in double overtime Mar. 7 in the IHSA Class 1A semifinals at the State Farm Center in Champaign.
The Cougars (35-3) advanced to the Class 1A championship game with the win. Aurora Christian finished 25-10 after losing to Chicago Hope 44-43 in the third-place game.
Aurora led 49-41 with 3:57 remaining in the game.
Little scored inside off an assist from Carson Brown, and the Cougars trailed 49-43 with 3:45 remaining in the fourth quarter. West Central forced an Aurora turnover on its next possession.
Mason Berry made a three-point shot off an assist from Little to cut the margin to 49-46 with 3:05 remaining. Aurora scored on its next possession and led 51-46.
Zack Evans made a three-point shot off an assist from Carson, and West Central trailed by two points with 2:38 remaining. Berry had a steal on Aurora’s ensuing possession.
Evans converted two free throws, and the game was tied at 51 with 2:24 remaining. West Central forced another turnover on Aurora’s next possession.
Little made one of two free throws with 1:51 remaining, and the Cougars led 52-51.
Little made three of four free throw attempts over the next minute, and the game was tied at 55 with 45 seconds remaining. Aurora made two free throws with 34 seconds remaining to retake the lead at 57-55.
Evans made two free throws with 17 seconds remaining to tie the game at 57. Aurora missed a three-point shot in the final seconds to send the game into overtime.
Brown scored to start the first overtime, but Aurora answered with a three-point basket Little scored, and the Cougars led 61-60 with 1:58 remaining. Aurora missed a field goal attempt on its next possession.
Evans grabbed an offensive rebound and scored to extend the lead to 63-60 with 1:27 remaining. Aurora made a three-point basket to tie the game.
Evans scored with 49 seconds remaining for a 65-63 Cougar lead. Aurora tied the game with 32 seconds remaining. Brown and Little both missed potential game winning baskets in the final seconds as the game went into a second overtime.
Berry drove the baseline and scored to give West Central the lead with 3:20 remaining in the second overtime. The game stayed tied, and Carson Brown made a steal with 2:12 remaining.
Cameron Sievers made one of two free throw attempts to increase the lead 68-65 with 47.6 seconds remaining. Aurora missed a three-point shot, and Berry forced a jump ball that went to West Central with 12.6 seconds remaining.
Evans made two free throws with 10.4 seconds remaining to seal West Central’s trip to the championship game.
Aurora scored the first five points of the game. Sievers made a three-point shot off an assist from Little, and West Central trailed 7-5 after one quarter.
The game was tied at 7 and 9 in the second quarter before Aurora went in front 20-14. Little scored twice in the final 41 seconds, including a basket at the buzzer, and cut the margin to 20-18 at halftime.
Aurora led by five points on three different occasions in the third quarter.
Little made one of two free throws, made a steal and scored on a layup, and Berry scored to tie the game at 27 with 3:58 remaining in the quarter. Little made two free throws, and the Cougars led 29-28 with 3:24 remaining.
Aurora scored six straight points and take a 33-29 lead. They led 37-33 later in the quarter. Little made one of two free throws with 26 seconds remaining, and the Cougars trailed 37-34 after three quarters.
Aurora shot 38 percent (24-for-64) in the game include just 18 percent (6-for-32) on three-point shot attempts. They had 35 rebounds and turned the ball over 12 times, including four times in the fourth quarter. They went 11-for-14 from the free throw line.
The Cougars shot 40 percent (22-for-50) from the field and made three of 10 three-point shot attempts. They had 36 rebounds and turned the ball over 11 times.
Little finished with 33 points and made 15 of 20 free throw attempts. He also had seven rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots.
Evans scored 17 points, including 13 in the fourth quarter and overtimes, had six rebounds and four assists.
Berry scored 11 points and had 10 rebounds.
Sievers scored five points. Brown scored four points and had seven rebounds.
